The Role of Offsets in an Emissions Reduction Program

On March 12, 2010, the Alliance welcomed Janet Peace, vice president for Markets and Business Strategy at the Pew Center on Global Climate Change, and Megan Ceronsky, an associate of Van Ness Feldman’s climate change and environmental practice groups to explore questions surrounding carbon offsets, for the EE Noon seminar titled “The Role of Offsets in an Emission Reduction Program”.

Peace offered an overview of carbon offsets, which are credits for projects that reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions outside a cap, and explained different categories of reduction such as direct, indirect and biological sequestration. She addressed issues of performance standards and the policy structure regarding carbon offset qualifications, and project-to-project accounting to a national level baseline approach.

Ceronsky, who is involved in the Coalition for Emission Reduction Projects (CERP), shared her insight into the carbon offset program as part of climate change legislation, including domestic and international GHG emissions reduction projects. She believes that the Stabenow Bill is an excellent framework for domestic offsets and pointed out key strategies to passing a climate bill. Ceronsky also expressed her thoughts about the role of energy efficiency in an offsets regime.

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