The Western Climate Initiative (WCI) today unveiled their final design for a
regional cap and trade program to spur reductions in pollution that cause
global warming. The regional agreement between seven Western states and
four Canadian provinces, a program initiated by Oregon Governor Ted
Kulongoski, was praised by environmental groups as a significant advancement
in the establishment of science-based action on global warming. The plan
includes a cap on stationary pollution sources such as power plants and
refineries, as well as the transportation sector, making it the largest
reductions plan in the world.
"Oregon and the western states have a lot to lose from global warming so it
makes sense that Oregon would be at the forefront, along with other western
states, in taking bold steps when it comes to solutions," said Jeremiah
Baumann of Environment Oregon. "Committing to a plan to limit global warming
pollution will help move not just the West, but also the entire nation, out
of our over-dependence on oil and fossil fuels and into our transition to a
clean energy economy."
The WCI was established in 2007 by the governors of Oregon, California,
Washington, Arizona, and New Mexico. Since then the states of Utah and
Montana and the Canadian provinces of British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario
and Quebec have joined.
"In the absence of leadership from Washington, Governor Kulongoski and the
other western governors deserve tremendous credit for recognizing the
urgency of the issue and working together to put solutions in place,"
concluded Baumann. "We hope that the leadership provided by these Governors
will set an example for others, including our leaders in the nation's
capitol, to follow immediately with strong science-based action."
Environmental groups were quick to point out much work remains in the months
and years ahead as officials hammer out details of state-specific
implementation plans for WCI, as well as other state-specific programs
designed to reduce global warming pollution and shift to clean energy
solutions. Environmental groups are focused on a range of important details
including whether pollution allowances are given to polluters for free, or
whether they are auctioned off with the revenues spent in the public
interest.
"The smartest, cheapest way to tackle global warming from a consumer
perspective is to make companies pay for every ton of pollution and use the
revenue to invest in global warming solutions," said Baumann. "This prevents
the windfall profits seen in other similar programs, and it saves consumers
money and accelerates the transition to a clean energy economy because it
creates Oregon jobs helping build and renovate infrastructure to cut energy
use, cut pollution, and cut energy bills."
Under the Western Climate Initiative agreement, each state will decide how
many of the pollution permits will be auctioned and how many given away for
free. The agreement requires that at least 10% be auctioned at the beginning
of the program, and 25% by 2020, and notes that the state "aspire" to a
higher percentage, possibly 100%.
"It's clear that the WCI partners recognize the value and importance of
making sure that the value of billions of dollars in trade-able pollution
permits is used for public benefit, not polluter windfalls, and we're
optimistic that individual states will follow the lessons learned in places
that have tried cap-and-trade programs, and move immediately to 100%," said
Baumann. "We look forward to working with Governor Kulongoski and the Oregon
Legislature to pursue that goal."
The WCI stakeholders will continue to refine the design elements of the
regional program through November of this year. Over the next several
years, decision-makers in each of the states will need to work out their
plans for implementing the program, which is scheduled to take effect in
2012. A global warming solutions plan including the WCI, as well as
energy-efficiency policies to help Oregon consumers and businesses deal with
rising energy costs.
