WASHINGTON, D.C. -- As the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee wrestles over the draft climate change legislation proposed by Reps. Henry Waxman and Edward Markey, a new study has been released suggesting the feared economic toll may be lighter than some predict.

Today, Rob Watson begins an indepth look at the 12 points Donella Meadows outlined in her seminal piece published by the Sustainability Institute, "Leverage Points: Places to Intervene in a System." He starts with an examination of "constants, parameters (and) numbers” in the form of gas and carbon taxes.

Marc Stuart makes the case for fixing, not tossing, the Clean Development Mechanism.

In this ClimateBiz.com Q&A, Miriam Horn, co-author of "EARTH: The Sequel," describes some of today's emerging cleantech innovators and the reasons they need a cap-and-trade to help bring their technologies to scale.

NEW YORK, N.Y. -- RGGI, the country's first greenhouse gas cap-and-trade system, officially began Jan. 1. Though the number of bids submitted was lower than in the second auction in December, the per-ton price inched up 13 cents.

SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- Proponents say the move will boost credibility of the voluntary carbon market because the credits, called Voluntary Carbon Units (VCUs), can be tracked from the time they are issued until retirement to avoid double-counting.

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Research and consulting firm Point Carbon estimates that emissions dropped nearly 9 percent in 2008 compared to the year before, which will lead to millions of tons worth of over-allocated carbon allowances for the country's first greenhouse gas cap-and-trade.

NEW YORK, N.Y. -- Environmental groups are blasting New York Gov. David Paterson's decision to reconsider whether the state should increase the amount of greenhouse gas permits it doles out for free to power producers participating in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI).

Management of greenhouse gas emissions will be mandatory by 2010 -- especially for carbon intensive industries -- but reducing emissions can add social, environmental and financial value to a company, according to Tom Cushing, SVP of the Chicago Climate Exchange.

The U.S. could do a double-service to the world and to itself by fixing the procedural issues of the Clean Development Mechanism, and adopting an already-created, high-quality pipeline of projects seeking to make real emission reductions.

OAKLAND, Calif. -- Representative John Larson (D-Conn.) introduced America's Energy Security Trust Fund Act of 2009, which would tax carbon dioxide at $15 per ton at the source, including refineries, coal mines and shipping terminals for imported fuel, and increase by $10 per year or higher, depending on how fast emissions decline.

America doesn't have a national energy plan, but Google does. And to those who may contend the plan has nothing to do with the company's core business or shareholder value, Schmidt says, "shareholder value in a company is created at the end of everything we do."

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- An analysis from the Center for Public Integrity shows the number of climate change lobbyists increased 300 percent since 2003. There are now four climate change lobbyists for every member of Congress.