California lawmakers passed a bill that may stall plans for a link of the state’s cap-and-trade system with Quebec that would allow companies to exchange carbon permits across the borders.
The measure, approved as part of the legislature’s $95.1 billion budget package, requires the state’s air resources board to gain approval from the governor before linking cap-and-trade systems with other jurisdictions. The board was expected to decide tomorrow on a link with Quebec that would allow companies to use carbon offsets and permits issued by the province to meet California’s greenhouse-gas emissions targets.
Dave Clegern, a spokesman for the air resources board in Sacramento, declined in an e-mail to comment on the bill’s approval, saying the agency is “withholding any comment until after the governor signs” the legislation.
California, which established a carbon program after U.S. policy makers failed to develop a federal plan, is set to join more than 30 other governments operating emissions-trading programs worldwide next year, including 27 European Union member-states, Norway, Switzerland and New Zealand, as well as Quebec. The state’s air board has supported a link with Quebec to strengthen its carbon market and drive down emissions by larger volumes.
Linking the two programs would send “a strong message to two national governments that now is the time to support innovation, energy efficiency and the development of clean technologies,” Mary Nichols, chairman of California’s air resources board, said in a statement when the board’s staff proposed rules that would join the systems May 9.
I noticed that there is mention of REDD in ARB’s website. The REDD scheme would mean that some of California’s higher energy costs would be redistributed to nations with huge forests. In other words, it is a scheme to redistribute wealth from the North to the South.
At last, a useful role for congress. They should pass a law forbidding California to do this. No question about jurisdiction here, congress has the right to regulate interstate commerce.