On September 23rd, the Western Climate Initiative, unveiled their final design for a regional cap and trade program to spur reductions in pollution that cause global warming. The regional agreement between seven Western states and four Canadian provinces was praised by Environment California as a significant advancement in the establishment of science-based action on global warming. The plan includes a cap on stationary pollution sources such as power plants and refineries as well as the transportation sector making it the largest reductions plan in the world. This said, Environment California remains concerned about details of the regional and state-specific programs including whether pollution allowances are given to polluters for free, or whether they are auctioned off with the revenues spent in the public interest.
Read Environment California's news release, and then hear our staff talk about the issue on NPR's "The California Report":
On June 26th, Governor Schwarzenegger's Air Resources Board released the state's draft plan for slashing pollution that cause global warming by nearly 30% by 2020. This is the first comprehensive plan in the nation for cutting emissions to levels required to prevent catastrophic climate change.
As we see it, California's plan can still go one of two ways: One way would allow the state's biggest polluters to create windfall profits by selling pollution "credits" they get for free (which is what happened in Europe). The alternative is Environment California’s vision: make polluters pay for their pollution, and funnel that money into wind and solar power, greener buildings, and a cleaner transportation system.
Resources
Global Warming Solutions Fact Sheet: A one-page overview on why polluters should have to pay for their carbon permits in a cap and trade system.
Cleaner, Cheaper, Smarter: Our report that makes the case for auctioning permits in a global warming cap and trade program
Polluter Profit Fact Sheet: You can also read a fact sheet showing the outrageous profits of the biggest oil companies in California that are trying to get the Schwarzenegger administration to repeat the mistakes of the European Union which gave away billions of dollar in permits to polluters for free.
The scientific consensus is in and public awareness is on
the rise—it’s time to tackle global warming head on. From dangerous heat waves
and shrinking snowpack, to intense winter storms and increased summer smog, California will suffer
irreversible consequences unless we reduce the amount of global warming
pollution we emit.
The simple truth is that solving global warming means
kicking our dependence on fossil fuels. Unfortunately, the combustion of fossil
fuels—oil, gas and coal—accounts for 88 percent of California’s global warming pollution. Furthermore,
California is
the 12th largest source of global warming pollution in the world.
With global warming threatening our future, energy prices
surging, and war raging in the Middle East, we
need to change course now and move beyond fossil fuels.
Investing in
solutions to global warming
It’s time for California
to make a large, long-term investment in clean energy technologies that will
solve global warming.Solar power,
high-speed trains, zero-energy homes—these are the technologies that will drive
our transition to a clean energy economy and ultimately solve the climate
crisis.
Environment California is
working to get the Schwarzenegger Administration to create a $1+ billion-a-year
Global Warming Solutions Fund to invest in solar, wind, energy efficiency and
other technologies that will put California
on a path to reducing global warming emissions by 25 percent by 2020.
Make Polluters Pay
As California leads the way
on global warming, a big challenge is to decide how to pay for investments to replace
our biggest sources of pollution.Environment
California is supporting a plan to fund clean energy by making polluters pay
for every ton of global warming pollution they emit, while continuing to push
forward with strong policies to require increased production of clean,
renewable electricity and energy efficiency.
As
the Schwarzenegger Administration considers a “cap-and-trade” program to cut
global warming pollution, Environment California is working to ensure that
polluters pay for 100% of their emissions.
Making polluters pay is the cleanest, cheapest and smartest
way to cut global warming pollution. After decades of
government subsidies to fossil fuel industries, it’s time to level the playing
field and reward clean technology.
Environment California
supports using revenue from polluters to:
Invest in clean energy research
and development and the deployment of renewable energy technologies.
Reduce costs for consumers with investments
in energy efficiency and annual rebates.
Support
development of “green collar” jobs
through training and outreach programs.
Support pollution reductions in California’s
most polluted communities.
