According to E&E News, Harry Reid, the Senate Majority Leader (D-Nev.) told the Senate on Tuesday that energy and climate change might have to wait until next year, given the crowded legislative schedule. (Socialism, Communism, death panels, healthcare.)

There remains the possibility that the energy piece of the bill might be decoupled from from the climate change portion. 

That news came during a carbon financing panel at Always On Going Green while the panel was trying to explore the following questions:

  • Will massive new renewable energy projects find a massive new source of investment funds via carbon taxes, or through the proceeds from carbon emission auctions, or through qualifiying for funds as carbon offset projects?
  • Will carbon become a new currency, reflating the global economy? Are carbon regulations, trading & taxes coming, and if not, how else will government policies finance green technologies?

Here are some of the panelist's comments:

Jon Anda, Visiting Fellow, Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions

  • The EPA lever is still there with a Supreme Court mandate to regulate GHGs.

Ajit Nazre, Partner, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers

  • With or without cap-and-trade, carbon reduction is a cleantech business.
  • Hara, a KP portfolio firm, sets a baseline for enterprises on fuels and resources – most enterprises do not know what they consume.  Resource monitoring will mean more money for the bottom line with or without any cap-and-trade.

Randy Wilson, Principal, Energy Practice, KPMG

There are four components of a carbon market:

  1. Set a limit or cap on the C or GHG that  an economy can emit.
  2. Once you set the cap distribute the right to emit.
  3. Step down the cap each year.
  4. Have an ability to verify.

Max Seybold, CEO, Carbonflow

  • Cap-and-trade is a mechanism that is already out there – whatever the U.S. is doing – there is already a system out there that already works.
  • There is no market in the U.S. at all.

Sean Schickedanz, General Partner, Clean Pacific Ventures  (Lead investor in CarbonFlow)

  • We need the offset piece to make it work in the U.S. A lot of these offset projects are in China.
  • In order to monetize the U.S. – we have to realize how complicated the carbon authentication process is.
  • "The volume of offsets – if its passed, and if its going to work, are going to be mighty indeed."
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