News Tip: Delay in California Carbon Trading 'About Getting It Right,' Experts Say

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Thursday, June 30, 2011

Contact: Erin McKenzie
(919) 613-3652
erin.mckenzie@duke.edu 

On Wednesday evening, California officials announced they will delay their enforcement of the state’s carbon trading program for major polluters until 2013. The state plans to initiate a cap-and-trade policy in 2012, pending the outcome of an appeal of a lawsuit challenging the program.

Duke University policy experts Tim Profeta and Jan Mazurek recently assisted California with the framework for their emission-reduction goals, which aim to decrease emissions to 1990 levels. They provided information about a carbon fee as one of several alternatives.

Tim Profeta
Director of Duke University’s Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions
http://nicholasinstitute.duke.edu/people/profeta

Jan Mazurek
Director of Strategy and Operations for Duke University’s Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions
http://nicholasinstitute.duke.edu/people/jan-mazurek/mazurek

See a whitepaper here: http://nicholasinstitute.duke.edu/climate/policydesign/examination-of-carbon-fee-for-california

Quotes
"One must respect the Air Resources Board (ARB) for deciding to take the time to get this right, rather than just getting it in place," said Tim Profeta, director of the Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions. "Another year will only ensure program details can be adequately established to secure an efficient and effective market. The time will give the ARB the ability to comfortably establish strong programs for market oversight and develop protocols and systems to ensure there is an adequate supply of low-cost emissions reductions in the market. 

“The California program has become the lead for the country, and the ARB justifiably wants to get this right,” said Jan Mazurek, director of strategy and operations for the Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions. “The delay brings little cost: greenhouse gas reduction goals for 2012 were basically set at the same business-as-usual level, so the delay will have virtually no impact on achieving environmental goals.”

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