I'm not sure if that was the primary driver, but certainly of the U.S. cap and trade system under the Clean Air Act dealing with emissions giving rise to acid rain was successful. The program is widely recognized as having achieved its environmental objectives and as having done so at a cost much lower than was projected, certainly by industry and even by government, when the program was put in place. That precedent was certainly one of the bases for the emissions trading under the Kyoto Protocol.
On February 6th, 2007. See this statement in context.