New environmental justice measures might revive cap-and-trade
By Alex Brown, Stateline.org
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After years of failed attempts, Washington state lawmakers last month celebrated the narrow passage of a bill that places an economywide cap on carbon emissions and charges polluters for their contributions to climate change.
But their long-awaited win came as national momentum for such policies, known as cap-and-trade, has begun to wane. California’s first-in-the-nation program, created in 2013, has drawn charges of environmental racism from critics who say it allows industries to achieve compliance without reducing pollution in marginalized communities. Late last year, California’s top air regulator fell out of the running to lead the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency after dozens of environmental justice groups warned President Joe Biden about what they said was her “bleak track record in addressing environmental racism.”