Congress hasn’t come up with a plan for limiting greenhouse-gas emissions, but U.S. companies are wagering billions of dollars that it will, the Washington Post reports.
Companies are making changes now as Senate committees consider five bills that would create a cap-and-trade system, which would issue tradable allowances for limited greenhouse-gas emissions. So far, 21 major corporations have joined the U.S. Climate Action Partnership pressing for “immediate action to enact mandatory national legislation.”
Europe’s already functioning cap-and-trade system has been a catalyst for creating an infrastructure for a future U.S. regulatory system and, according to the Post, even if congressional or White House action doesn’t materialize, many U.S. companies could fall under cap-and-trade systems at home, as well as in Europe.