Here are the FAQs. California Cap and Trade/American cap and trade will go into effect after the suicidal and over-worked voters in California turn down Prop 23 (a result of billionaire hedge fund backing) on Tuesday, Nov. 2. Some collapse at the sight of a movie star, do anything a hedge fund thug demands, and with corrupt politicians in endless supply, how can Soros and the UN ever lose? Highlight from these FAQ's: They are negotiating to be traded on a major COMMODITY EXCHANGE. This program like others makes a lot of serious sounding statements. You would be ridiculed if you questioned them (so most people don't). Like the others it is impossible to police and perfect for organized crime. As George Soros said, financial speculators like it because the system can be "gamed."
- The average person would need to spend all his time studying this matter to begin to learn the fraud committed on him and his country by billionaire thugs in the name of 'caring about the planet.' They've made it complicated, knowing the chump taxpayer won't know what hit him until it's too late.
FAQ for Climate Action Reserve, the group who will oversee the Calif. cap and trade program:- "Q: Do you accept CDM methodologies as approved Reserve Protocols? Do you recognize Gold Standard projects? A: No. Only project protocols that are developed by the Climate Action Reserve are accepted for use in our system. The Reserve often turns to CDM methodologies as a starting point for our protocols, but CDM methodologies (on which the Gold Standard relies) do not have the standardized additionality and/or baseline criteria that are built into our protocols. CDM methodologies are also designed for projects in developing countries, which are not always appropriate for use in the United States.
- Q: What is the difference between the Climate Action Reserve and the Chicago Climate Exchange? A: The Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX) is a voluntary, for-profit GHG trading system. CCX members agree to legally binding voluntary GHG reduction targets. To comply with those targets, which are set as a percentage of a historical baseline, members must either reduce their emissions internally or purchase tradable allowances or offset credits from other members who have generated GHG reductions. The CCX has its own set of protocols for quantifying and certifying emission reductions from offset projects. However, offset credits comprise only a fraction of the total number of tradable emission certificates issued by the CCX (the majority are emission allowances).The Reserve, by contrast, is not an exchange. The Reserve is a non-profit registry that serializes and tracks GHG reductions generated in adherence to our protocols and independently verified by accredited verification bodies. Although offset credits may be transferred between accounts in the Reserve registry, credits are not traded through the Reserve system and the Reserve plays no role in setting the price for CRTs.
INTERACTION WITH GHG REGULATIONs
- Q: What happens to the Reserve if a federal mandate is established for offsets? A: While we cannot predict how or when the federal government will regulate GHG offsets, we are confident that we are developing a program and processes that will ultimately inform their actions. The Reserve has already been recognized as a source of high quality offsets by a number of government bodies. For example, the State of California has recognized the Reserve and its project protocols as voluntary early actions under AB 32, and Pennsylvania has named the Reserve as a recommended source of offsets for businesses operating in the state. We believe the Reserve is also well positioned to be a supplier of offsets for the Western Climate Initiative. All of this leads us to believe that the Reserve will be recognized by a federal offset program....
Q: Is there any overlap with RGGI offset protocols? Can CRTs be used to meet RGGI requirements? A: Both the Reserve and Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) have performance-based offset protocols for landfill and livestock operations, and for re-foresting of land that has been out of forest cover for a minimum of 10 years (they refer to this as afforestation). RGGI also has offset protocols for:
- Reduction in emissions of sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) in the electric power sector
- Reduction or avoidance of CO2 emissions from natural gas, oil, or propane end-use combustion due to end-use energy efficiency in the building sector
CRTs are not eligible to meet RGGI reduction requirements. More information on RGGI’s offset program is available at
www.rggi.org/offsets."...
- Q: What is the average verification cost per project? A: The cost of verification is highly dependent on a number of factors including: the size and complexity of the project, how well organized the project documents and records are, the number of years being verified, etc. Different project types also require different types of monitoring, which affects the cost of verification. We do not yet have sufficient data to provide an average verification cost per project type. Here is the current list of accredited verification bodies if you would like to seek out a quote on a particular project.
- Q: How is regulatory compliance verified? A: All project protocols contain provisions for verifying that projects registered with the Reserve comply with all local, state, and national regulations. Project developers are required to 1) sign a Regulatory Attestation that states the project is in compliance with all applicable regulations and 2) disclose specific regulations to which the project is subject. While verification bodies are not required to conduct a full regulatory audit as part of verification, they do use the information provided by the project developer and their professional expertise to assess the project’s regulatory compliance.
- Q: How soon after a project begins operation can it be verified? A: Most projects require at least annual verification; the project developer may choose to verify more frequently. A project may be verified as soon as there are reduction tonnes to be verified. Some developers may choose to have their project verified when operations begin, just to make sure everything is being done correctly, but this is not required. The exception to this is for forest projects, which may not be verified sub-annually.
- Q: As a project developer, do you need to verify the quantity of CRTs each year, or will the Reserve assign a yearly CRT production level for the life of the project? A: The Reserve will only issue CRTs after a project undergoes a successful verification and the emissions reductions reported by the project developer have been checked for accuracy. As most projects require annual verification, we expect new CRTs to be issued for most projects on a yearly basis. However, new CRTs are not automatically issued to a registered project – verification of those tonnes must occur before CRTs are issued. Refer to the project Verification Program Manual, and individual project protocols for guidance on the requirements for each project type.
- Q: Are consultants that provide technical assistance on a project also required to be accredited? A: No. The only part of the process for which you are required to hire an accredited third party is for verification. There are no accreditation requirements for individuals or organizations you hire to provide you with technical assistance.
- Q: Do project verification bodies have to be accredited by ANSI? A: By the end of 2010, all verification bodies will need to be accredited under ISO 14065 or enrolled in the ANSI (the American National Standards Institute) accreditation program to be eligible to conduct verification activities for the Reserve program in the United States. Verification bodies approved by the California Registry may continue to conduct verifications for the sector-specific protocols for which they have previously been approved through December 31, 2010. The Reserve also requires that verifiers successfully complete sector-specific project protocol training courses to conduct verifications. Under the recently adopted Mexican Landfill and Livestock Project Protocols, the Reserve will also allow Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) accredited Designated Operational Entities (DOEs) in relevant Sectoral Scopes to perform verification under the Reserve until January 1, 2011, if they have met Reserve training and additional requirements. More details on verification body accreditation can be found here.
CRTs (Climate Reserve Tonnes)
- Q: How many CRTs are issued per ton of carbon reduction? A: One CRT is equal to one metric ton (tonne) of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) emissions reductions.
- Q: Do you track the price paid for CRTs? A: No. The Reserve is not an exchange and therefore does not track or report on the price paid for CRTs. Buyers and sellers negotiate a price outside of the Reserve, and then use the Reserve to transfer CRTs from one account to another. We do not require disclosure from our account holders on the price paid per CRT.
- Q: Can you provide an estimate for pricing on CRTs? A: While the Reserve does not track the price of CRTs, a May 2009 report from New Carbon Finance put the average price of CRTs at $6.30, at the “premium end of the market”. It is also possible to view prices for CRT futures being traded on The Green Exchange and the CCFE.
- Q: How do I sell CRTs once they are in my account? Is there a specific contract template that we should use? A: All sales happen over-the-counter between buyers and sellers. At the moment there is no template contract for the sale or transfer of CRTs. However, we may develop one in the future. We are also in discussions with a major commodities exchange about allowing CRTs to be traded on their system.
- Q: Can CRTs generated inside California be traded outside California (e.g. as an offset for a project in a different state)? A: For voluntary transactions, the answer is yes. If the question is whether CRTs may be recognized for regulatory compliance in another state, that will depend on whether the other state allows and/or recognizes CRTs as offsets in their program. Currently, CRTs are only being used in the voluntary offset market and have not been approved for use in any compliance market. However, the Reserve has already been recognized as a source of high quality offsets by a number of government bodies. For example, the State of California has recognized the Reserve and its project protocols as voluntary early actions under AB 32, and Pennsylvania has named the Reserve as a recommended source of offsets for businesses operating in the state....
Q: How do you ensure that CRTs issued are real? A: Our protocols include numerous mechanisms to ensure that emissions reductions from a project are real and credible, including the performance threshold and regulatory additionality tests; rigorous emission reduction quantification methodologies; provisions to address leakage, permanence, and ownership; and the requirement for third party verification.
- Q: Do you know of any sales taxes that apply to transfers of CRTs?A: You should contact your tax advisor regarding the tax consequences of transferring CRTs....
Q: If we have a project developer account, do we also need a trader/broker account to buy, sell, and retire on the Reserve? A: No. Project developer account holders are able to buy, sell and retire CRTs on the Reserve....
- Q: Can I hold CRTs in my active accounts on behalf of someone else? A: It depends. This activity is only possible for account holders who qualify as "regulated persons", such as banks. Please refer to the Terms of Use, available here, for more details. For all other account holders, all CRTs in the active account must be owned by the account holder. If you sell a CRT to a buyer, they become the “beneficial owner” of those reductions, even if they are not a Reserve account holder. If CRTs are sold, they must be transferred to the buyer or put into a retirement account.
- Q: What is a “beneficial owner”? A: A “beneficial owner” is one who has the benefits of ownership of a security or property even though the title is in another name. For example, when an investor purchases stocks from a brokerage firm, they become the beneficial owner of those stocks, though the brokerage firm remains the actual official owner in the system-of-record. In the case of CRTs, the beneficial owner has the right to use those reductions to offset their own GHG footprint.
- Q: Can I retire CRTs in my retirement account on behalf of someone else? A: Yes, but there are limitations. If an account-holder retires 100 or more CRTs for the same individual or organization within a calendar year, they must disclose the name of the buyer to the Reserve, though this information is kept confidential. If an account-holder retires 100,000 or more CRTs for the same individual or organization within a calendar year, the buyer’s information is no longer considered confidential, and may be made public at the Reserve’s discretion. These policies are meant to uphold the integrity and accountability of the system.
- For more information please refer to the Climate Action Reserve Terms of Use.
Q: The Gold Standard only accepts renewable energy (RE) and energy efficiency (EE) projects, and is viewed as a high-quality offset standard. Why does the Reserve’s position on renewable energy and energy efficiency differ so sharply from the Gold Standard? A:
The Gold Standard was originally developed as a high-quality overlay to officially registered Clean Development Mechanism (CDM
) projects, and its provisions and requirements are therefore largely tailored to a developing country context. The Reserve is focusing on offsets primarily in the United States, and eventually all of North America. Although we believe that U.S. investment in renewable energy and energy efficiency will be critical to mitigating climate change, there are several reasons why we are not focusing on grid-connected RE and EE projects as a way to generate carbon offsets (the Reserve is still considering protocols for EE projects that do not affect grid electricity consumption, e.g., boiler efficiency projects).The primary reason is that the United States is actively considering the imposition of cap-and-trade programs to regulate GHG emissions from the power sector. One such program, the
Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) in the Northeast, commenced on January 1, 2009. We expect that other cap-and-trade programs (including, quite possibly, a nationwide federal program) are likely to follow soon. Once an emissions cap is in place for the power sector, it will not be possible to issue offset credits for RE and EE projects that affect emissions at capped power plants, because doing so would result in the double-counting of emission reductions. As a policy matter, the Reserve has chosen to focus on project types that affect sources (or sinks) of GHG emissions that are unlikely to be covered under U.S. cap-and-trade programs in the near term....
- Q: Am I required to upgrade if there is a newer version of the protocol available? A: No, you may use the protocol version to which your project was listed for the duration of the crediting period. If errata and clarifications are released that correct or codify certain elements of the protocol version you are using, you must incorporate the errata and clarifications posted for that version."
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