California Extends Climate Bill, Handing Gov. Jerry Brown a Victory

On July 18, 2017, the California Senate voted 28-12 to extend the state’s cap-and-trade program through 2030, handing a legislative victory to Governor Jerry Brown. The program, which was originally set to expire in three years, places a limit on carbon emissions and requires polluters to obtain permits to release greenhouse gases.

The new legislation aims to strengthen the system by requiring large industrial facilities to upgrade to cleaner, more modern equipment by 2023. Under state law, California must reduce its carbon emissions by 40 percent of 1990 levels by 2030. While some pollution permits are given away, others are auctioned to generate billions of dollars in state revenue.

The extension was supported by a broad coalition of Democrats, Republicans, labor, environmentalists, businesses, and faith groups. However, some conservative lawmakers opposed the measure due to concerns that it would drive up electricity and gas prices, according to reports at the time. Critics also argued that the plan does not go far enough to combat pollution, though Governor Brown described the legislation as essential to the survival of civilization.

The Los Angeles Times reported that the California program is the only one of its kind in the United States and is considered an international model for using financial regulatory pressure to reduce emissions. Democratic leaders in the state positioned the move as part of an effort to lead opposition to the environmental policies of the Trump administration, which had rolled back several Obama-era initiatives.

To further this agenda, Governor Brown had recently traveled to China, with plans to attend a climate summit in Germany in November 2017 and host a climate conference in San Francisco the following year.