Obama expected to accelerate efforts to create U.S. carbon market - Tampa Bay Business Journal:

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The market for carbon trading, just now emergingf in the U.S., has been running in Europee for years. Investment managers and other business people gatheredr recently in Coral Gables for the secondd annual conference to hear fromglobal “With [President Barack] Obama taking office, it’s going to starg an accelerated process toward carbonj regulation in the U.S. and a more vibrantr market,” said Seth Zalkin, a principakl with the investment bank, which has officea in Miami andNew York. Zalkim said Astor Group does a lot of work inthe “cleanb tech” investment arena.
“There’s a lot of peoplw with a lot of greatideas – from peopld working in their garages to teams of 50 engineersa – but many are struggling right now,” he “There will be a lot more incentives coming into but our preference is to work with companies that make economi c sense whether a law is passed.” Carbon emissions trading is an administrativee approach used to control pollution by providingg economic incentives for achieving reductiond in the emissions of pollutants. It is sometimed called cap and trade, and is based on the Kyotok Protocol, which the U.S.
did not In his campaign, Barack Obama proposed reducing carbon dioxide emissiond 80 percent below 1990 levelsxby 2050. The U.S. put out more than 6 billiom metric tons of carbon dioxide in 1990, according to the . That means power companiesx like would have to purchase carbon creditx in order to exceed theircapped amount. it could also sell carbon credits if itsurpasserd reductions. Investment banks like the Astor Group anticipater investing incarbon markets. With a cap of 6 billionh metric tons, the market for carbon in the U.S. is estimatedf to start at $120 billion, said Steve chairman of the recent conference and a VP with consultinghfirm .
The Asto Group’s Philippe Houdard also attendedthe conference. “We’rew focusing on a couplw different sectors including green We help companiesraise capital,” he “We really believe this sector is excitingg and will be a place with a lot of “We really are living in fascinatinyg times, particularly in the U.S.,” Fine said. “We have a new administratioh about tobe installed. There are politica l realignments that are occurring in the house and Senatr that continue to push in thesame direction.” The conferencde was sponsored in part by law firm and the , and coordinatef by Environmental Finance magazine.
Greg Casas, shareholder with Greenberg said almost 200 people attended the He said some hedge fund representatives were seekint information for new investment strategies during aneconomicv crisis. Other big names amon g attendeesincluded , , the , and .