Members of the European Union and some other countries that are signatories to that treaty are already creating trading systems for greenhouse gases. Some multinational corporations that will be required to abide by greenhouse gas regulations abroad want to find a way to get credit for the actions they take globally against global warming.
"As a company that has taken some action in this area, what's very critical to us is that that action is recognized in a systematic way, globally," said Jake Siewert, an Alcoa vice president.
Alcoa, for example, could seek credit for shifting the source of its energy to hydroelectric power, which results in no greenhouse gas emissions -- even though shifting to hydro would not reduce emissions at Alcoa's own plants.
The company is training personnel at its many aluminum production facilities around the world to get used to participating in an exchange for greenhouse gases by creating an internal trading system. The various branches will get used to tracking their emissions and sharing information on efficient technologies for cutting their releases of greenhouse gases.
"If you take the long view, we're assuming over time there will be some form of trading," Siewert said. "We're getting accustomed to the idea."
The Chicago Climate Exchange, which will operate the market in greenhouse gas pollution rights among the 14 companies and the city of Chicago, expects to get a head start even on the European Union when it opens trading in October.
Richard L. Sandor, chairman, chief executive and founder of the Chicago exchange, said he hoped that the exchange's experience would help inform the policy debate over how to address the problem of global warming.
"Our job is to see if you can prove that you can build the infrastructure, keep transaction costs minimal and make a market feasible," Sandor said.
It is no small experiment. The 15 founding participants emit nearly 60% as much greenhouse gases as Great Britain. Each company will get an emissions allotment equal to the average of its emissions between 1998 and 2001. Companies will be required to cut that allotment 1% a year for four years.
Participating companies hope that the experience will give them a jump on their competitors in case the government starts regulating emissions.
