Maine has just pioneered a world first towards being able to trade weatherization on the cap and trade market. MaineHousing had a goal to get every home and half the businesses in Maine weatherized within the next twenty years, but like most states, is starved for funds to help homeowners finance it.

MaineHousing Director Dale McCormick may just have found the funds to to get it done. Putting weatherization credits on the cap and trade market.

Until now cap and trade has only been used to provide the funds for clean energy installations or large scale commercial energy efficiency retrofits which save fossil energy and reduce carbon emissions. But Maine relies on home heating oil to keep warm in winter. Each old leaky house leaks two tons of carbon every year from poor insulation, to say nothing of leaking dollars.

So Maine has, for the first time, begun the process to link home weatherization to carbon credits. “We had a party,” laughed McCormick.  “We made history. It’s the first time in the world, we’re very proud.” (more…)