Timeline

The CAC joins the Climate Top 50.

The CAC joins the Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX)

CAC initiates program to offset the GHG emissions of every US State Governor’s official vehicle

The graduating Class of 2006 retires 50 MT of CO2 eq. to the CAC Trust as their gift to Nicolet High School.

The CAC develops a new strategic direction and rolls out its NetZero program.

2006

A Charter for an Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate is signed by United States, Australia, China, India, Japan, and the Republic of Korea.

NASA reports that 2005 tied with 1998 as the warmest year on record in terms of Global-Mean Surface temperature.

The total number trades at the Chicago Climate Exchange reaches 4,000,000 Metric Tons.

Humanics Learning publishes a classroom workbook developed by the CAC called “Clean Air Activities: Exercised for a Cleaner Tomorrow” to assist teachers and students to learn about air quality science and issues.

The CAC receives its largest single donation of Emission Reduction Credits (ERCs) from 4 commercial firms. The donation totals 1,825,630 MT of CO2 equivalent.

2005

LADCO member states, including Ohio, establish a Registry Working Group to begin setting up a voluntary greenhouse gas registry.

Trading price for US EPA-issued SO2 permits reaches more than $1,600 per metric ton.

Nine New England and Eastern states sign an agreement to form the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) to begin planning a greenhouse gas trading mechanism targeting generating facilities.

The European Union Greenhouse Gas Emission Trading Scheme (EU ETS) begins regular trading of greenhouse gas emission reductions.

The Chicago Climate Exchange begins trading in Carbon Financial Instruments (CFI).

The Kyoto Protocol, which binds developed country Parties to set emission reduction targets, enters into force on 16 February 2005.

The CAC establishes a for-profit division, the Clean Air Trading Company (CATCO).

2004

With the generous support of Winston and Strawn (Chicago), the CAC establishes the Clean Air Conservancy Charitable Trust to hold in perpetuity all donated/purchased air pollution credits and allowances.

2003

The CAC works with the Organizing Committee of the 2002 Olympic Games in Salt Lake City, Utah to calculate the environmental impact of the Games. The effort results in the first “NetZero” Olympic Games after banking SO2 and CO2 eq emission offsets donated by Kennekott, Dupont, Waste Management, and PSCO2 Partners.

2002

In early 2002, a section of the Antarctic’s Larsen B ice shelf with an area approximately 20% larger than the State of Rhode Island shatters and is separates from the continent. The 3,250 KM2 piece, which was likely 1,200 years old, represented approximately 720 billion metric tons of ice.

The CAC works with the Ohio EPA to plan a statewide NOX market.

CAC staff develop a clean air curriculum and participate in science teachers conferences in Connecticut, New Hampshire, Ohio, Michigan, Tennessee, California and the annual National Science Teachers Conference.

With donor support, the CAC establishes a network of volunteers in Cuyahoga County, Ohio to monitor and report summer ozone levels.

2000

By the end of the school year, the number of schools participating in the CAC program increases to over 400.

1999

CAC staff testify as experts before the Commerce Committee of the US House of Representatives, and are invited as experts to the Southern Governor’s Air Quality Summit and a national markets conference sponsored by the Chicago Board of Trade, the US EPA, and the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.

1998

For the first time, the trading price for SO2 allowances offered by the US EPA reaches $200 per Metric Ton and SO2 emissions from utilities participating in the cap-and trade trading scheme under the Acid Rain program drops by 38% over 1992 levels.

NASA reports that 1998 was the warmest year on record in terms of Global-Mean Surface Temperature.

1997

The fourth meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change adopt the Kyoto Protocol (11 December 1997).

The CAC joins collation of environmental and consumer groups to spearhead a Campaign for an Energy-Efficient Ohio.

The CAC works with 130 schools for curriculum development and assists with their local fund raising efforts to purchase and then retire SO2 permits.

INHALE changes its name to the Clean Air Conservancy (CAC).

1996

INHALE participates in a ground breaking settlement that resolved a dispute between the US Park Service and Luttrel Corp. over the construction of a manufacturing facility near the Great Smokey Mountains National Park.

INHALE is a founding member of the Ohio Fund for the Environment, which later becomes EarthShare of Ohio.

Through Cantor Fitzgerald Environmental Brokerage Services and the South Coast Air Quality Management District in California (SCAQMD), INHALE receives and banks 10,491,387 lbs. of RECLAIM trading credits for NOX and SOX.

1995

1994

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) entered into force on 21 March 1994 after being ratified by 166 countries.

1993

The Southern California Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) adopts a regional Clean Air Incentives Market (RECLAIM) program for NOX and SOX.

Founder David Webster provides key testimony before the Public Utilities Commission in Connecticut that leads to the donation of 10,000 SO2 allowances by Northeast Utilities to the American Lung Association.

As a special guest invited to the floor of the Chicago Board of Trade, David Webster accepts on behalf INHALE the first SO2 permit ever issued to a non-profit through the US EPA Acid Rain Program.

In November, founder David Webster establishes the National Healthy Clean Air Licenses Exchange (INHALE) to raise funds to purchase and then permanently retire pollution allowances.

1992

The US EPA Acid Rain program establishes the world’s first “cap-and-trade” scheme to address the environmental impacts of acid rain in the United States.

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is signed at the first United Nations Conference on Environment and development in Rio de Janeiro.

1990

The 1990 revision of the Clean Air Act establishes the Acid Rain Program to reduce the emissions of SO2 and NOX. The new legislation includes mention of tradable permits as a measure improving air quality.

1989

Representatives from Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Michigan form the Lake Michigan Air Directors Board Consortium (LATCO).

1988

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) establishes the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to assess the available scientific information, assess environmental and social impacts, and to formulate policy response strategies.