Cap and Trade: California’s Answer to Climate Change

Sitting in the middle of the San Francisco Bay, Treasure Island boasts some of the most beautiful and unique views in the region. Yet in 50 years, those stunning vistas could be in peril.

Made up of landfill, Treasure Island is particularly prone to the dangers of rising sea levels brought on by climate change. It made sense that the island served as the setting for a signing ceremony extending California’s landmark cap-and-trade legislation.

Cap-and-trade requires California companies to buy permits to release greenhouse gas emissions, providing an incentive for corporations to pursue cleaner energy initiatives. When companies do purchase cap-and-trade permits, that revenue is directed toward affordable housing projects and sustainable transportation programs.

On Treasure Island, we are set to build 8,000 new homes, of which 25 percent will be affordable, and the residents will rely heavily on a sustainable public transit network. Those initiatives are exactly the kind of programs that cap-and-trade revenue supports.

The legislation signed on July 25 by Governor Jerry Brown will lengthen the cap-and-trade program an additional 10 years, carrying it through 2030. I joined Governor Brown for the event, which also included former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who signed the original legislation, and State Assemblymember Eduardo Garcia, who authored the bill to extend the program.

California was at the forefront of this issue in 2006, when California’s first cap-and-trade bill was signed (also on Treasure Island.) We are fortunate to have state leaders taking such a strong position on climate protection, but we also know that local action is necessary to stem the harmful effects of dirty energy.