Emissions trading

The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, known as RGGI, may be growing. New Jersey’s new Democratic Governor has vowed to bring his state back into the compact and Virginia is the first coal-producing state to take steps to join.

“The fossil fuel industry, which has been an awful good business for the last 200 years, isn’t a good business going forward. And the smart money is heading for the exits now,” says environmentalist Bill McKibben.

After passing the United States as the top carbon emitter, one researcher says China’s now making a commitment to reduce the country’s carbon output. But in order for China to reduce large amounts of CO2, they say, the U.S. will need to do more.

Residents of Beijing an other parts of northern China are still dealing with terrible pollution, but it’s not nearly as bad as it was on Saturday, when pollution levels exceeded the scales used to measure such problems. But while the pollution is horrible, China’s not the first place to deal with deadly pollution.

For companies doing business in California, a new environmental law is about to go into effect. It is expected to raise the cost of doing business for companies with carbon emissions.