Warming to the fight

13 May 2008 By Martin Hutchinson

The Republican presidential hopeful’s plan to cut emissions involves government allocation of carbon permits and a barrel of exemptions. Obama would auction the permits and keep the system closed. The Democrat’s programme is more marketoriented and should work better.

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Republican presidential candidate John McCain on May 12 announced his strategy to combat climate change. He set targets of returning emissions to 2005 levels by 2012, 1990 levels by 2020 and 60% below 1990 levels by 2050. He proposed a "capandtrade" system of emissions permits, exempting small business, with the government allotting permits and allowing both trading and international offset of carbon emissions. A Climate Change Credit Corporation would oversee the programme, provide credits for emission reductions made before 2012 and ease the transition for industries with fewer efficient technology options.

Democrat frontrunner Barack Obama also favours a "cap and trade" system, and plans to reduce emissions to 80% below 2005 levels by 2050 (more ambitious than McCain's 2050 target). He would auction emissions permits, invest $150bn over 10 years in clean energy, including a $50bn clean technologies deployment venture capital fund, and require 25% of electricity generation to be from renewable sources by 2025. He would also provide subsidies for carbon sequestration, and double fuel economy standards by 2026.

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