Cap-and-Trade, California Style: Who Gets the Money?
Economists Recommend Paying People Before Polluters
By Stacy Morford
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As California writes the details of a statewide cap-and-trade plan for greenhouse gas emissions, it is considering a different approach for divvying up the proceeds, one that would put state residents rather than polluters first in line for payouts.
Billions of dollars will be at stake once the state’s carbon trading system gets going in 2012.
The California plan stems from a 2006 state law, AB32, that requires the state to cut its emissions to 1990 levels by 2020. The California Air Resources Board identified a cap-and-trade program as a key strategy to reach that goal.