Today power plants primarily in the Northeast will bid on the right to put carbon into the atmosphere.
An open auction takes place under rules set by the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, or RGGI.
The goal is to reduce carbon emissions and New Hampshire is one of ten states involved in the auction.
NHPR’s Amy Quinton explains.
The auction will set the price of emissions and require power plants to buy allowances for every ton of carbon they emit.
It will be the first mandatory cap and trade emissions auction in the nation.
More than 12.5 million tons of carbon allowances will be up for sale
Joanne Morin with the air resources division of the Department of Environmental Services says this is very important to New Hampshire.
"there’s really never been an auction of carbon allowances…"
New Hampshire will be selling allowances during the next RGGI auction, which is scheduled for December.
For NHPR news, I’m Amy Quinton.