A global warming bill before Congress could be a breeding ground for speculators and con artists without strict government controls, Duke University environmental studies professor Tim Profeta is warning Congress this morning.
Profeta is testifying before the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry on the global warming legislation that will create a cap-and-trade system for greenhouse gases. Profeta is the founding director of Duke University's Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions and a former environmental counsel for Sen. Joseph Lieberman.
The cap-and-trade market will allow emitters of carbon dioxide to trade emissions allowances with other polluters. That way a company that exceeds its annual emissions limit will have to buy allowances from other companies. The market is designed to encourage businesses to
reduce emissions so they can sell allowances.