Report, below (37 page PDF)
Statement of Support For Auctioning All Allowances In Any Global Warming Cap-And-Trade Program
...Auctioning Allowances in Cap-and-Trade: A Clean, Fair, and Smart Solution to Global Warming
There are many paths America can take to reducing global warming emissions. Among them are “cap-and-trade” programs that couple a cap on emissions with a mechanism that allows businesses to buy, sell and trade “allowances” to pollute.
It is critical that any cap-and-trade program require the auctioning of pollution allowances, rather than giving those allowances away for free to polluters.
By auctioning pollution allowances, we affirm that no one has a “right” to pollute. Instead, we claim the atmosphere as a common resource, to be managed for the benefit of the public, which no polluter may foul without due compensation.
By auctioning pollution allowances, we reduce the societal cost of achieving emission reductions, enabling America to achieve its climate protection goals with less disruption to our economy and the lives of individual Americans.
And by auctioning pollution allowances, we prevent the accumulation of billions of dollars in windfall profits by polluters, and instead put those revenues to work on behalf of the public. Allowance revenues can support efforts to transform America into a clean energy economy and to provide a regular dividend or rebate to American consumers.
We call on state and federal lawmakers to limit global warming emissions to the levels demanded by the science and to auction all pollution allowances in any cap-and-trade program.
Carl Pope
Executive Director
Sierra Club
San Francisco, California
Mark Cooper
Research Director
Consumer Federation of America
Washington, DC
Chad Dobson
Director of Government Affairs
Oxfam America
Boston, Massachusetts
Roger Hickey and Robert Borosage
Co-Directors
Campaign for America's Future
Washington, DC
Margie Alt
Executive Director
U.S.PIRG: Federation of State PIRGs
Boston, MA
Ilyse Hogue
Campaign Director
MoveOn.org
Lynn Thorp
National Campaigns Coordinator
Clean Water Action
Washington, DC
Howard A. Learner
Executive Director
Environmental Law & Policy Center
Chicago, Illinois
Michael Brune
Executive Director
Rainforest Action Network
San Francisco, California
Erich Pica
Director, Domestic Campaigns
Friends of the Earth
Washington, DC
Gary D. Bass
Executive Director
OMB Watch
Washington, D.C.
John Passacantando
Executive Director
Greenpeace
Washington, DC
David Morris
Vice President
Institute for Local Self-Reliance
Washington, DC
Rev. Sally Bingham
President
The Regeneration Project / Interfaith Power & Light
San Francisco, California
Van Jones, J.D.
President & Founder
Ella Baker Center for Human Rights
Oakland, California
Tyson Slocum
Director, Energy Program
Public Citizen
Washington, DC
Bill McKibben
Step It Up 2007
Burlington, Vermont
Stephen A. Smith
Executive Director
Southern Alliance for Clean Energy
Knoxville, Tennessee
Seth Kaplan
Senior Attorney
Conservation Law Foundation
Rachel McMahon
Director of Regulatory Affairs
Center for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Technologies
Sacramento, California
Ralph M. Martire
Executive Director
Center for Tax and Budget Accountability
Chicago, Illinois
Frank O’Donnell
President
Clean Air Watch
Washington, DC
V. John White
Executive Director
Clean Power Campaign
Sacramento, California
Tam Hunt
Energy Program Director / Attorney
Community Environmental Council
Santa Barbara, California
Kristen A. Sheeran, PhD
Director
E3 Network: Economics for Equity and the Environment
Tom Athanasiou
Executive Director
EcoEquity
Jason Barbose
Global Warming Advocate
Environment California
Sacramento, California
Bill LaBorde
Program Director
Environment Washington
Seattle, Washington
David Gahl
Air and Energy Program Director
Environmental Advocates of New York
Albany, New York
Jeremiah Bauman
Environmental Advocate
Environment Oregon
Portland, Oregon
Eban Goodstein
Project Director
Focus the Nation
Lake Oswego, Oregon
Michael Noble
Executive Director
Fresh Energy
St. Paul, Minnesota
Matt Baker
Executive Director
Environment Colorado
Denver, Colorado
K.C. Golden
Policy Director
Climate Solutions
Seattle, Washington
Diane Brown
Director
Arizona PIRG
Phoenix, Arizona
Edward (Ned) W. Stowe III
Senior Legislative Secretary
Friends Committee on National Legislation
Washington, DC
Charlie Higley, Executive Director
Citizens Utility Board of Wisconsin
Madison, Wisconsin
Erik Magnuson
Environmental Associate
Environment Arizona
Phoenix, Arizona
Fred Schlicher
Acting Executive Director
Massachusetts Climate Action Network
Boston, Massachusetts
Lauren Ketcham
Advocate
Environment New Mexico
Albuquerque, New Mexico
David R. Celebrezze
Director of Air & Water Special Projects
Ohio Environmental Council
Columbus, Ohio
Rex Wilmouth
Director
CoPIRG
Denver, Colorado
Luke Metzger
Environment Texas
Austin, Texas
Gary Patton
Executive Director
Planning and Conservation League
Sacramento, California
Emily Rusch
Advocate
CALPIRG
Sacramento, California
Becky Stanfield
Director
Environment Illinois
Chicago, Illinois
Dan Kohler
Director
Wisconsin Environment
Madison, Wisconsin
Erin Bowser
Director
Environment Ohio
Columbus, Ohio
Alex Matthiessen
President
Riverkeeper, Inc.
Tarrytown, New York
Dena Mottola
Executive Director
Environment New Jersey
Trenton, New Jersey
Ken Bossong
Executive Director
SUN DAY Campaign
Takoma Park, Maryland
Mark Ferrulo
Director
Environment Florida
Tallahassee, Florida
Matt Auten
Advocate
Environment Rhode Island
Providence, Rhode Island
Carrie La Seur, Ph.D., J.D.
Plains Justice
Mount Vernon, Iowa
John Blair
President
Valley Watch
Evansville, Indiana
Brad Heavner
Director
Environment Maryland
Baltimore, Maryland
Chris Phelps
Advocate
Environment Connecticut
Hartford, Connecticut
Marian Riggs Gelb
Executive Director
Iowa Environmental Council
Des Moines, Iowa
Jennette Gayer
Advocate
Environment Georgia
Atlanta, Georgia
Erika Staaf
Advocate
Environment New Hampshire
Concord, New Hampshire
Paul Burns
Executive Director
VPIRG (Vermont Public Interest Research Group)
Montpelier, Vermont
Elizabeth Ouzts
Director
Environment North Carolina
Raleigh, North Carolina
Frank Gorke
Executive Director
Environment Massachusetts
Boston, Massachusetts
Betsy Taylor
Founder
Center for a New American Dream
Takoma Park, Maryland
Steve Kirsch
Chairman
Steven and Michele Kirsch Foundation
San Jose, California
Harriet Barlow
Director
HKH Foundation
New York, New York
Ann Hancock
Executive Director
Climate Protection Campaign
Graton, California
Casey Ehrlich
Blanket the Globe
Salem, Massachusetts
The Case for Auctioning Pollution Allowances
in a Global Warming Cap-and-Trade Program
