SACRAMENTO, California — California air regulators are weakening their signature cap-and-invest proposal weeks before a final vote, easing costs for industry and offering new relief to oil refiners after intense political blowback.
What happened: The California Air Resources Board on Tuesday released last-minute changes to its draft carbon market rules through 2045, boosting free allowances for industry sectors at risk of losing business to out-of-state competitors.
CARB’s deputy executive officer for climate change and research, Rajinder Sahota, cited “short-term economic uncertainty caused by federal disruption, loss of federal incentives, global events and volatile market conditions” as the reason for the changes in a media briefing on Tuesday.
“What we’ve done is make sure that we are protecting industry in general, and we’re making sure that we’re providing additional support during this time of uncertainty to the refining sector, but we’re not exempting them from the program because they are a large source of emissions and need to be in the program like everyone else,” Sahota said.
