In this report prepared for the Pew Center on Global Climate Change, the authors review six diverse US emissions trading programs, drawing five general lessons for future applications and discussing important considerations for controlling greenhouse gas emissions. The authors conclude that emissions trading is especially well-suited to be part of a program to control greenhouse gas emissions.

With growing Congressional interest in programs to address climate change—including the recent introduction of cap-and-trade legislation controlling greenhouse gas emissions—the application of lessons from previous emissions trading programs is timely. NERA Senior Vice President Dr. David Harrison presented this report to Congressional staff in a 19 May briefing in the Dirkson Senate Office Building. Dr. Harrison and Eileen Klaussen, President of the Pew Center on Global Climate Change, also discussed the report and climate change policy on “Talk of the Bay,” a program of the NPR affiliate in Santa Clara, California, on 20 May.