Document Type
Journal Article
Publication Date
2012
Abstract
This article analyzes possible regulatory frameworks to address long-term CCS liabilities from the perspective of the Polluter Pays Principle (“PPP”). The analysis begins with a brief description of CCS’s role in reducing global CO2 emissions and the regulatory barriers to CCS implementation. Next, the article introduces the PPP, explaining its origins and influence on environmental policy. The article then presents four possible regulatory frameworks for long-term CCS liabilities within the PPP context, providing examples of countries and programs where these frameworks are either in place or proposed. The frameworks analyzed are: (1) transfer of liability, (2) government indemnification, (3) owner/operator retention of long-term liabilities without financial responsibility requirements, and (4) an industry-funded pooled trust fund. Finally, this article concludes that an industry-funded pooled trust fund is the framework most in line with the PPP in the CCS context because it is the scenario in which the polluter is most likely to pay for, and the public is most likely to avoid, the greatest portion of long-term CCS liability costs.
Recommended Citation
Bailey, Paul, Elizabeth McCullough, and Sonya Suter. "Can Governments Ensure Adherence to the Polluter Pays Principle in the Long- term CCS Liability Context?" Sustainable Development Law & Policy 12, no. 2 (2012): 46-51, 69-70.