California Dreaming: The Golden State Considers Overhauling Its Cap & Trade System

California continues to blaze a climate change policy trail in pursuit of a state-of-the-art carbon pricing mechanism. Bill SB 775 (California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006: Market-based Compliance Mechanisms) was introduced into the California Senate on May 2, 2017, and follows the introduction in February 2017 of SB 584 (which would require 100% of the state's electricity to come from renewable sources by 2045) and the passage of SB 32 in 2016 (which, beyond the current emissions reduction target of returning to 1990 emission levels by 2020, mandates a reduction of an additional 40% in emissions by 2030). Although it was introduced with little fanfare, SB 775 is significant because if passed, the bill will overhaul California's cap-and-trade system after 2020 when the current cap-and-trade program expires. The changes proposed by SB 775 are dramatic and would have implications for the cap-and-trade programs currently operating in both Québec and Ontario. Among