The Adirondack Council is putting money behind its calls to reduce regional emissions of carbon dioxide, a major greenhouse gas.

The environmental group bought 2,000 tons’ worth of carbon dioxide allowances through a Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative online auction held Wednesday.

The group put in a bid of around $10,000, but won't know exactly what it paid for the 2,000 allowances until results are announced in about a week, said spokesman John F. Sheehan.

In a 10-state market where the allowances are generally bought by power plants, the council is buying them to remove them from the marketplace and push the cost of credits higher.

It's a rather symbolic gesture, since more than 30 million tons worth of credits were being sold. But the council believes it's worthwhile.

"It's a ton of carbon out of the system," Sheehan said.

Under the government-mandated emissions trading system, the allowances represent the right to emit carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Each power plant in the 10-state region has a specific cap on its emissions, and must buy one allowance for each ton of carbon it emits.

The idea is that over time the pool of credits will shrink, and their price will go up, giving power plants an economic incentive to lower their emissions.

By retiring credits, Sheehan said the council is hastening the process.

The states in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative are Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island and Vermont.

Since quarterly auctions started last summer, Sheehan said the Adirondack Council repeatedly participated and has now retired 7,000 credits. Credits are auctioned in lots of 1,000.

To raise more money for future auctions, the council will sell three tons of credit to individuals for $25. Sheehan said three tons equals about half a year’s worth of gasoline for the average car or a year’s worth of home heating fuel for the average person.