Torys on Climate Change - September 2010

Recent Developments

North America

California and the Western Climate Initiative takes the spotlight

Regional cap-and-trade initiatives have returned to the spotlight after U.S. Senate leaders indefinitely postponed efforts to pass a comprehensive federal climate change bill. Some recent Senate proposals, such as the bill proposed by John Kerry and Joe Lieberman, would have pre-empted all regional cap-and-trade programs in the United States. Yet in the absence of federal legislation, state and provincial policymakers continue their work to implement regional programs.

Increasingly, however, these policymakers are looking to the November 2 California elections for guidance. These elections will determine the outcome of Proposition 23, a ballot proposition that would suspend implementation of AB32, California's landmark climate change legislation, until unemployment in the state drops below 5.5%, something that has rarely occurred in the last 30 years. Among