Los
Angeles Times: A cap-and-trade carbon emissions plan in
California, modeled on Europe's six-year-old system, may be
delayed by litigation. Scheduled to begin in January 2012, the
program has been challenged by local environmental groups that
contend the California Air Resources Board failed to analyze
alternatives to trading. "We have to be open to the possibility
that there could be other approaches and that we could achieve
[carbon] reductions in a different way," said board chairwoman
Mary Nichols. Because the European cap-and-trade system has
been plagued by tax fraud schemes and cybertheft, it was hoped
that the California plan would set a better example for the US.
The court's decision is expected to be appealed, but any delay
in the January start date could throw a wrench into the
financial planning of hundreds of companies, writes Margot
Roosevelt for the
Los Angeles Times.
