state cap and trade
California Can Protect Climate Policies—and Pocketbooks
Lawmakers can use climate policies to alleviate some cost burdens. They should also resist the narrative that climate progress is driving affordability concerns.
Affordability is the name of the game at the California Legislature this session, with leaders in both the Assembly and the Senate talking explicitly about cost of living. But legislators’ focus on bringing costs down for average Californians doesn’t need to come at the expense of forward-thinking climate policy. Here are a few things legislators …
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CONTINUE READINGFive Myths and Half-Truths About California Cap and Trade
California has spent years fine-tuning its trading system, with results that aren’t always easy to gauge.
A key part of California’s climate policy has always been its cap and trade system. Because the regulations aren’t very transparent, there have been a lot of misconceptions about the system. I’ve been digging into the rules, the explanatory website set up by the California Air Resources Board (CARB), and secondary sources to try to …
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CONTINUE READINGPricing Carbon: What Does It Actually Accomplish?
Pricing carbon may not work the way economists thought.
In theory, pricing carbon should incentivize emissions reductions. In reality, it is unclear to what extent that takes place unless the carbon price is very high. This is not to say that pricing carbon is useless, but the main benefits may take different forms. Basically, there are two ways of putting a price on carbon. …
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CONTINUE READINGWhy Was the Lawsuit Challenging California’s Cap-and-Trade Auction Filed Just One Day Before the Auction?
As Ann posted earlier today, the California Chamber of Commerce has filed a petition for writ of mandate in a California superior court, alleging that the auction of allowances to emit carbon dioxide scheduled for tomorrow constitutes an illegal tax and is not authorized by the California law AB 32. AB 32 requires the state …
CONTINUE READINGCalifornia environmental justice advocates sue Air Resources Board over climate scoping plan
UPDATES: California Air Resources Board Chair (and former UCLA colleague) Mary Nichols comments below. The Complaint in this action is available here (caption page separately available here). A coalition of California environmental justice advocates has filed a lawsuit challenging the legality of the California Air Resources Board‘s scoping plan for AB 32, the landmark climate …
CONTINUE READINGWaxman bill on state cap-and-trade efforts
I’ve been reading the Waxman-Markey energy and climate discussion draft released earlier in the week (and blogged about by Rick here). One thing I’m puzzling over is the draft’s treatment of state cap and trade regulations. As many have noted, the question of which state climate efforts are saved and which are preempted is an …
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