The United States’ resistance to ratify the Kyoto Protocol and the introduction of state and regional regulations rather than national carbon market have limited US activity in the global carbon market. However, the development of a voluntary carbon market in the US has occurred to compensate for the lack of a national, regulated carbon market. The US has been driving the global voluntary carbon market supplying the majority of voluntary carbon credits and providing the largest source of demand (Ecosystem market place, May 2009). Though the US voluntary carbon market has grown substantially to reach a transaction level of nearly 84 million tons in 2008, it accounted for only 3% of the transaction volume of EU Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS). In addition to the voluntary carbon market, a development of voluntary market for renewable energy as well as energy saving projects, indirectly supporting carbon emissions reduction, has taken place in the United States. While small on a global scale, these voluntary efforts have had a positive effect on carbon reduction and policy change in the United States.

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