California joins big carbon-trade partnership

In a joint effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, California has teamed up with six other states and four Canadian provinces to develop a cap-and-trade program. This group includes the states of California, Arizona, New Mexico, Oregon, Washington, and Utah, and the provinces of Manitoba, Quebec, British Columbia, and Ontario. A cap-and-trade system sets a limit on the amount of tolerable pollution a firm may produce and instills penalties on offenders, but businesses have the option to pay for carbon credits to offset any overflow. The standards to be set by this collaboration of states are yet to be finalized, but look forward to December.

Read about it at: California joins big carbon-trade partnership
Source: San Francisco Chronicle
July 24, 2008