GHG allowances

California raises almost $300 million in its first cap-and-trade auction

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) released the results from its first auction of greenhouse gas (GHG) allowances today.  It sold all of the approximately 23 million current allowances (2013 vintage) at $10.09.  It sold 14% of the approximately 39.5 million advance allowances (2015 vintage) at $10.00. As I discussed last week, the unsold advance …

CONTINUE READING

Cap-and-Trade: Why Auctions are Better than Give-Aways

Earlier this week California began auctioning off greenhouse gas emissions allowances, and the sky has not fallen.  But is an auction really the best way to distribute the allowances?  The California Chamber of Commerce says no.  Its lawsuit—discussed in recent posts by Ann, Rhead, and Sean—doesn’t challenge the State’s authority to limit greenhouse gas emissions, …

CONTINUE READING

What happens if not all allowances are sold at the first cap-and-trade auction?

California held its first cap-and-trade auction for greenhouse gas (GHG) allowances yesterday.  The California Air Resources Board (CARB) will announce the results from that auction on Monday, Nov. 19.  What happens if not all the allowances are purchased at the auction? The short answer is that unsold allowances will be withheld from the market and …

CONTINUE READING

Why California’s cap-and-trade auction is not a tax

Yesterday, Ann and Cara gave their initial reactions to the California Chamber of Commerce lawsuit against California’s cap-and-trade auction.  The main thrust of that lawsuit is that the auction (that happens today) is an unconstitutional tax because, according to the lawsuit, AB 32 gave the California Air Resources Board (CARB) no authority to withhold and …

CONTINUE READING

TRENDING