The CCX was conceived by economist Richard Sandor, who began studying the feasibility of a cap-and-trade system in 2000 with a $1.1 million grant from the Joyce Foundation (where Barack Obama served as a board member then). Sandor, a former chief economist at the Chicago Board of Trade, modeled it after successful emissions trading programs like the U.S. sulfur dioxide (SO₂) market…
By 2009, the CCX had grown to over 400 members, including corporations, municipalities, and universities, reflecting optimism about carbon markets, especially after the 2008 U.S. election when cap-and-trade legislation seemed imminent.
Prices peaked at $7.50 per ton in May 2008, fueled by expectations of a U.S. federal cap-and-trade system under the Waxman-Markey bill, which passed the House in 2009.
The Waxman-Markey bill stalled in the Senate, and the 2010 midterm elections shifted U.S. politics away from climate legislation, undermining the CCX’s raison d’être.
With no mandatory U.S. carbon policy, demand for voluntary credits evaporated. Trading volume hit zero in February 2010, and prices plummeted to 5–10 cents per ton by November 2010, down from $7.40 in 2008.
DB2