How much greenhouse gas mitigation can be expected from a domestic offsets program?
The greenhouse gas mitigation potential of a domestic offsets program depends on the price of carbon. The type of offset activities undertaken, as well as the location of these activities, will also change depending on the carbon price. For example, a 2005 report by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) found mitigation potential in 2015 from agriculture and forestry at a carbon price of $1 per metric ton of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2e) to be 121 teragrams (Tg)[9] CO2e/year; at a price of $50/tCO2e, mitigation potential jumps to approximately 1,500 TgCO2e/year.[10] These mitigation potentials translate to roughly 2% and 22%, respectively, of total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions in 2003. The EPA report further notes that, at the lower end of the price spectrum, soil carbon sequestration and forest management are expected to dominate the offsets market, while afforestation is expected to dominate at higher prices. Regionally, the midwestern and south central portions of the
