{"id":22058,"date":"2012-05-30T08:48:55","date_gmt":"2012-05-30T15:48:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/?p=22058"},"modified":"2012-05-30T08:48:55","modified_gmt":"2012-05-30T15:48:55","slug":"the-new-cap-trade-battlefront-how-to-spend-the-revenues","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/2012\/05\/30\/the-new-cap-trade-battlefront-how-to-spend-the-revenues\/","title":{"rendered":"The New Cap & Trade Battlefront: How to Spend the Revenues"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lawmakers weigh in on what to do with the carbon-trading windfall<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"
AB 32 requires California's largest emitters to meet carbon reduction targets. If a firm's emissions are below state-mandated targets, it may auction off its remaining "allowances" to firms that exceeded their emissions targets.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Since the enactment of AB 32<\/a> in 2006, California\u2019s greenhouse gas emissions reduction law, analysts have speculated about how to spend the money generated from the law\u2019s cap-and-trade carbon allowance auctions, <\/a>the first of which is set for this November.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday, the State Assembly passed new legislation, AB 1532<\/a>, that narrowed the options. The bill, which the California Chamber of Commerce has described as a “job killer” and an “illegal tax,”<\/a> passed 47-26 and awaits action in the Senate. If ratified, it would establish a “Greenhouse Gas Reduction Account” within the state Air Pollution Control Fund and authorize spending auction proceeds on clean energy technology, low-carbon transportation, conservation and green energy research and development.<\/p>\n

On Friday, the California Air Resources Board held a public hearing to discuss where auction funds might be spent<\/a>, as a panel of speakers from across the state and country — representing a broad array of industries and interests — sounded off on where this sizable stream of new funding<\/a> might be best directed.<\/p>\n

Jim Earp, executive director of the California Alliance for Jobs<\/a>, said that the funds should be spent on improvement of transit networks and infrastructure. Ellen Hanak, a fellow at the Public Policy Institute of California<\/a>, suggested that a best fit is renewable energy and efficiency projects. Lester Snow, director of the California Water Foundation (and former head of Water Resources for the state), pointed to habitat restoration on the Delta<\/a> and making California’s vast, energy-intensive water delivery systems more efficient.<\/p>\n

The governor\u2019s 2012-13 budget<\/a> [PDF] also lays out a general framework for where cap-and-trade auction funds might be allocated.<\/p>\n