• Who We Are
    • The Climate Trust
    • Climate Trust Capital
    • Achievements
    • Leadership And Board Of Directors
  • What We Do
    • Action
    • Impact
    • Case Studies
  • Financials
  • Media
    • Blog
    • News & Press
The Climate Trust | Capping Carbon, Not Jobs

Capping Carbon, Not Jobs

California Market, Policy

Sheldon Zakreski, The Climate Trust
As published by CaliforniaCarbon.info – March 7, 2018

Bipartisan support for capping carbon grows with evidence of economic development

Climate change is something political pundits refer to as a wedge issue. Indeed, a Pew Research poll a few years ago found that while 72 percent of Democrats favored an urgent response to reduce carbon emissions, only 24 percent of Republicans agreed. While this divide may help explain inaction at the Federal level, a strange phenomenon is happening in states that already have carbon price policies. State level Republicans are not only voting in support of extending programs, but also making reduction requirements steeper.

Last year, eight out of 33 California State Republicans voted to pass a bill extending the State’s cap and trade market through 2030 after it was set to expire in 2020. The State of Maine, where both houses of government are evenly split between Democrats and Republicans, overcome opposition from its Governor to unanimously pass a bill keeping the state in a regional cap and trade market for electric utilities. This vote is all the more surprising considering that the program’s stringency will increase and mandate a 2.5 percent annual reduction when the extension kicks in, over the current 2 percent annual reduction requirement.

What explains this bipartisan support? As former President Clinton once said, “It’s the economy stupid.”

In Maine, the deployment of $54 million in cap and trade funds attracted an additional $88 million in private investment in the energy sector. Therefore, for every dollar the state collected and put back into the economy it generated another $1.63 in private investment. It gets better. The combined $142 million in investments produced $277 million in energy cost savings for Maine households and businesses. It’s hard to argue with a program that brings in outside investment and makes citizens richer and businesses more competitive, even if it’s designed to price and lower carbon emissions.

Earlier this year, California Assemblyman Devon Mathis one of the eight climate friendly Republicans, reported that farm and agriculture-related businesses in his district have received more than $54 million in cap and trade funding. Such funding will attract additional outside investment allowing these businesses to invest in technologies that will lower their total energy bills despite unit price increases at the pump.

This is the rub. We always hear about how cap and trade will increase the cost of electricity and petroleum. While that’s not in dispute, if the funds collected are redistributed wisely then the overall cost of energy will go down. This is how state governments can make their businesses more competitive and lower emissions at the same time. Economic development is something everyone, regardless of political stripe, can agree on.

There is plenty of available real world data that cap and trade programs deliver for the economy, the environment and individuals—perhaps connected to this movement towards bipartisanship at the state level. It would benefit all political leaders to take a hard look at the evidence and not get sidetracked by outdated political scare tactics around rising costs that have not been born out in practice. The first step on the road to progress is for leaders (including those in Oregon) to overcome their fears and finally put a price on carbon by adopting a cap and trade program. Until now, the rally cry has been an urgency to act for the sake of our environment. I don’t dispute that, but there is also an urgency to act for the sake of improving the competitiveness of businesses and the living standards of its citizens.

Image credit: Flickr/U.S. Department of Agriculture

Tags
Adaptation
Aggregation
American Carbon Registry
Biochar
Blue Carbon
C-AGG
California Air Resources Board
California Carbon Info
Cap and Invest
carbon offset standards
Carbon Pricing
Carbon-Pulse
Clean Power Plan
Climate Action Reserve
Climate Bonds
Conservation Finance Network
Corporate Social Responsibility
CORSIA
Culture
Dairy Digester
Ecosystem Marketplace
Edible Portland
Energy Central
Environmental Defense Fund
Environmental Justice
EPAF
Farm Power Northwest
GreenBiz
IPCC
Job Announcement
Leadership
Low Carbon Fuel Standard
Milestone
Oregon Carbon Dioxide Standard
Oregon Clean Fuels Program
Oregon Energy Facility Siting Council
Oregon Global Warming Commission
Pacific Coast Action Plan on Climate and Energy
Paris
Portland General Electric
REDD
Renewable Fuel Standard
Renewable Identification Numbers
Request For Proposal
RGGI
Rice
Risk Management
Scientific American
Social Cost of Carbon
Supply Chain
Sustainable Business Oregon
Triple Pundit
USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service
Verified Carbon Standard
Western Climate Initiative
Recent Comments
Leave a comment

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Cookie settingsACCEPT
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT
Proud Member Partners in Diversity
  • DONATE
  • CAREERS
  • CONTACT

©2020 The Climate Trust. Crafted by ILLUSIO