SACRAMENTO, California — A group of Assembly Democrats is trying to undo changes to the state’s carbon market, arguing they take away funds earmarked for climate projects.
What happened: Fifteen assemblymembers, led by Assemblymember Damon Connolly, wrote to Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas on Monday asking for the chamber to work with the Senate and the Newsom administration to protect billions of dollars in revenue generated from the sale of pollution permits on the state’s cap-and-invest market.
The lawmakers, including Assembly Appropriations Chair Buffy Wicks, singled out the California Air Resources Board’s creation of a new “Manufacturing Decarbonization Incentive” earlier this year, a change that some environmental and community groups have criticized. The groups say it redirects some funds that they would have received to polluting companies that show they are directly reducing their own emissions instead.
“We respectfully request that the State Assembly consider taking action to curtail implementation of the new Manufacturing Decarbonization Incentive to ensure that ‘Tier 3’ programs under SB 840 (2025) are fully funded for the near future,” the letter says.
