California’s air regulator this week defended its decision to allow emitters to use offset credits in the state’s forthcoming emissions trading system, refuting claims made in a lawsuit by two green groups that there is no way to ensure the environmental integrity of those projects.
The plaintiffs who brought the case, environmental groups the Citizens Climate Lobby and Our Children’s Earth Foundation, argued that there is no way to accurately measure the environmental impact of carbon offset projects, and have asked the court to step in to prevent the California Air Resources Board (ARB) from issuing them carbon credits.
At the heart of the case is whether greenhouse gas emissions reductions made by the four offset project types approved by the state would have occurred even if the projects didn’t exist, a term known as “additionality.”
