cap-and-trade
Carbon Auctions & Prop 13
California is planning to auction some of the carbon allowances in its new cap-and-trade system. There’s an interesting question about whether the auctions should be considered a “tax” under state law, which may turn in part on what the money is used for. If the auctions are considered a tax, they would run into trouble …
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CONTINUE READINGCarbon as Commodity and Currency
As a number of writers have suggested, it’s intriguing to think about the ways in which carbon functions like money to an increasing extent as a medium of exchange, and a measure and storehouse of value. Thus, alongside (and intertwined with) the existing money-based economy, we can envision the emergence of a carbon-based system of …
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CONTINUE READINGWhen green isn’t greener — Part 2
In a recent commentary, I suggested that the Pacific Gas & Electric Company’s new Green Option, pursuant to which consumers can subscribe to 100% renewable electricity, would not result in reduced greenhouse gas emissions. That is because under California’s cap and trade program, the utility can sell any unneeded carbon allowance for someone else to …
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CONTINUE READINGWhen a green option doesn’t make things greener…
California’s largest electric utility, the Pacific Gas & Electric Company (PG&E), has proposed to offer a Green Option Program through which individual customers could choose to pay a little extra for power that is 100% renewable. In a move clearly designed to discourage local governments from starting their own green power programs, PG&E displays endorsement …
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CONTINUE READINGNew journal issue on using the Clean Air Act to address greenhouse gas emissions
UCLA’s Journal of Environmental Law and Policy has just published its current issue, Volume 30, with all its content available free online in pdf format. This volume is a special symposium issue, featuring articles relating to the use of the Clean Air Act to address greenhouse gas emissions. Several of the articles’ authors were speakers …
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CONTINUE READINGHow California could surpass $1 billion in cap-and-trade auction revenue by 2013
Last week I did a series of posts examining the amount and potential price ranges for allowances in California’s upcoming cap-and-trade auctions for greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs). Knowing the estimated auction clearing price plus the estimated number of allowances to be sold at auction tells us the estimated revenue from that auction. Several estimates of …
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CONTINUE READINGAllowance distribution in California’s cap-and-trade program (Part II: Industry)
Yesterday I developed a basic overview of the different categories of allowances in California’s GHG trading program. As promised, this post considers the number of allowances that California will freely give to specific industries. Why do we care about industry allowances? First, allowances have value and the Air Resources Board (CARB) has chosen to give …
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CONTINUE READINGAllowance distribution in California’s cap-and-trade program (Part I)
Yesterday, I described California’s GHG cap-and-trade auction and the likely constraints on the auction clearing price. Today I want to switch gears to the allowance distribution. As summarized in our recent paper on California’s auction revenue, once you know the number of allowances available at auction and the auction clearing price, you can estimate revenue. …
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CONTINUE READINGAuction prices in California’s cap-and-trade program
This week, the Emmett Center released a new paper on the potential legal constraints on revenue generated from California’s upcoming greenhouse gas (GHG) cap-and-trade auction. In that paper, we provide a general overview of the cap-and-trade auction mechanism and discuss the potential revenue raised. I would like to expand on that discussion in a series …
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CONTINUE READINGWill California’s cap-and-trade program get 85% of its reductions from offsets?
Will California’s greenhouse gas (GHG) cap-and-trade program meet 85% of its required reductions with offsets? That is the claim made in a complaint recently filed in a California Superior Court, seeking to throw out California’s offset regulations. (Citizens Climate Lobby v. CARB.) The complaint cites a NY Times article from 2011, in which someone from …
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