SACRAMENTO, California — Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday proposed a 15-year extension of California’s signature cap-and-trade system for greenhouse gases — a cornerstone of the state’s climate policies and a reliable revenue generator.
Newsom’s (D) long-awaited proposal, reported first by POLITICO, would reauthorize the state’s quarterly auction of emissions permits and change the way some of the proceeds are spent. It comes months after Newsom first indicated his plans to do so and just weeks after President Donald Trump attacked the state’s program in an April executive order.
Newsom’s plan would also address another California initiative under attack from the Trump administration. Specifically, it would convert the proportion of revenue that funds the state’s hot-button high-speed rail project from a 25 percent carve-out to a guaranteed minimum funding level of $1 billion annually.
“California won’t bend the knee to a federal administration hellbent on making America polluted again,” Newsom said in a statement provided to POLITICO. “Cap-and-invest is the next chapter for one of our most effective tools to clean the air and keep our communities healthy.”
