A leading candidate for Colorado governor is pledging to launch a climate program similar to those in two other states that have raised billions for environmental projects but which critics say hike gasoline prices.
Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet has proposed creating a carbon market, which typically force major polluters to pay the state for their greenhouse gas emissions. He would use revenues to address rising energy costs and climate change.
“There is no state in America that is more on the tip of the spear of climate change than Colorado,” Bennet said in an interview.
Carbon markets, which create financial incentives for reducing greenhouse gas pollution, are “a more efficient approach to emissions” than direct state regulation, Bennet said. “I’ve long supported it.”
