38.7 Million CO2 Allowances Sold at 20th RGGI Auction

CO₂ Allowances Sold at $3.21

The nine Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic states participating in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), the nation’s first market-based regulatory program to reduce greenhouse gas pollution, today announced the results of their 20^th auction of carbon dioxide (CO₂) allowances.
 38,782,076 CO₂ allowances were sold at the auction, held Wednesday, June 5, 2013, at a clearing price of $3.21. The auction generated $124.4 million for reinvestment by the RGGI states in a variety of consumer benefit initiatives, including energy efficiency, renewable energy, direct bill assistance, greenhouse gas abatement, and climate change adaptation programs.

Allowances sold represent 100 percent of the allowances offered for sale by the nine states. Bids for the CO₂ allowances ranged from $1.98 to $5.55 per allowance.

According to the independent market monitor’s report, electricity generators and their corporate affiliates have won 86 percent of CO₂ allowances sold in RGGI auctions since 2008. Additional details are available in the Market Monitor Report for Auction 20.

With twenty auctions completed, RGGI continues to generate hard data showing that market-based emission reduction programs are an effective way to realize environmental goals, save consumers money, and create jobs. 
The next RGGI auction is scheduled for September 4, 2013. (RGGI)

Bioswale Installation Will Slow Down Stormwater Runoff In City

The Department of Environmental Protection plans to install 5,500 curbside gardens, called bioswales, to intercept, absorb and filter storm runoff before it flows into waterways. The bioswales will help clean up its rivers, streams and bays.  The bioswales—20 feet long and five feet wide—can hold 2,244 gallons of storm water at a time, the city says. They stretch five feet deep and are filled with broken stone and soil that contain air pockets to hold storm water. Planted with vegetation, the bioswales could pass topside as simple street gardens.

The bioswales, which cost about $25,000 each, will be tended by the city's parks department. Some 119 already have been installed in Queens and the Bronx around Jamaica Bay, the Hutchinson River and the East River. By 2014, city officials say they plan to have 2,200 bioswales installed, and 5,500 by 2015. Most will be situated in Queens, Brooklyn and the Bronx.

The bioswales are part of a larger city push on so-called green infrastructure, required under a 2012 settlement with New York state. In addition to paying a $200,000 fine to Albany for discharging pollutants into state waters, the city will spend some $5.3 billion to improve its sewer-overflow systems over the next 20 years.

By diverting storm water, the bioswales are designed to ease pressure on the city's 14 water-treatment plants, the final destination for both sewage water and storm-water runoff. On days with heavy rainfall, those plants become overwhelmed, letting wastewater and sewage slip into the city's waterways.

The city collects and treats 1.3 billion gallons of sewage and storm water on a dry day, city figures show, though the system can handle 2.5 billion gallons. Rainy days send far more than 2.5 billion gallons toward the treatment plants, the city says. (WSJ, 6/3/2013)