The United States is currently considering multiple different ways to approach greenhouse gas mitigation. One way that is receiving the most attention, however, is Cap and Trade. The "Cap" sets a limit on emissions. The "Trade" creates a market for carbon allowance. The term Cap and Trade as a whole describes a policy identifying greenhouse gas emitting entities that are covered by the system. It also sets caps on emissions, and allows trading in the resulting emissions allowances. The entities are points of responsibility and can be defined at different levels in our economic system, from coal mines, to gas stations.
Years ago, Cap and Trade was known as emissions trading, and due to possible issues with it, some called it "morally bankrupt" or even "a license to kill." For republicans and environmentalists, Cap and Trade represented an approach to clean up the world. Because of these allies, in 1990, the system of Cap and Trade was adopted as a national law. This was also because of the help from federal bureaucrats who wanted to violate the cardinal rule of bureaucracy, causing emissions trading, or Cap and Trade, to become one of the biggest success stories in the history of the Green Movement. .
The reason why Cap and Trade came to be, was due to the problems in 1980, when plants were sending up clouds of sulfur dioxide, and was coming back to Earth in the form of acid rain. This was causing problems such as damaging lakes, forests, and even buildings across Canada and the United States. There were many debates on how to fix this problem the following years. Congress kept putting out many different acid rain bills. The amount he put out caused so much frustration, that the prime minister of Canada joked about declaring war on the United States. Around this time, the Environmental Defense Fund, also known as the EDF, was coming up with way of their own to approach the current problems with pollution, and they came up with the conclusion that people hate being told what to do, and they wanted to give people a chance to turn a profit.
