International Offsets and U.S. Climate Legislation
, Environmental Law ReporterJune 2010
The United States has a complicated relationship with international offsets. During the Kyoto Protocol negotiations, the United States was a forceful advocate for integrating offsets into the international regime—ensuring that market-based mechanisms and an international trade in emission reductions became a part of the Kyoto framework.
Yet, like the Kyoto Protocol, the fate of international offsets in the context of American climate change mitigation efforts rests with the U.S. Congress. There are strong drivers supporting the integration of international offsets into U.S. climate legislation; there are also factions unknowledgeable about and deeply uncomfortable with international offsets.