AEE Applauds California Legislature for Bipartisan Extension of Cap-and-Trade Program that Will Drive Advanced Energy Growth
Legislative package extends program to 2030, fine-tunes market operations, improves air quality, provides regulatory certainty for investment
San Francisco, July 18, 2017 – Late yesterday, national business group Advanced Energy Economy applauded the California legislature for passing an extension of the state's cap-and-trade program to reduce carbon emissions with bipartisan support. Assembly Bill 398, to extend the life of the program until 2030 and modify how the cap-and-trade market operates passed 55 to 21 in the Assembly, and 28 to 12 in the Senate. Its companion, Assembly Bill 617, to address concerns about air quality in communities by increasing monitoring and imposing stricter penalties on polluters, passed 50 to 24 in the Assembly and 27 to 13 in the Senate.
“We applaud the California Legislature for voting to extend the state's effective cap-and-trade program, which will drive economic growth in the next decade while transforming our energy infrastructure to secure, clean, affordable sources,” said Graham Richard, CEO of Advanced Energy Economy. “Today, California leads in the $200 billion U.S. advanced energy market, supporting more than half a million jobs in the state. By extending cap and trade on a bipartisan basis, the Calif. legislature, working with Gov. Brown, has taken action to keep the momentum going for jobs and the economy.”
In June, AEE had called on the legislature to maintain regulatory and market certainty for California businesses by continuing the cap-and-trade system that is now on track to reduce emissions to 1990 levels by 2020, as required by AB 32 (which was passed into law in 2006). Last year, with the passage of SB 32, a new emissions target was set – 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2030 – but the cap-and-trade mechanism for achieving that target has yet to be extended. The proposed bills would effectively address these issues.
In a second annual report commissioned by the Advanced Energy Economy Institute, a nonprofit educational organization affiliated with AEE, advanced energy employment in California was documented at over 500,000 workers in 2015, an increase of 18 percent from the year before, six times the rate of overall job growth in California. New data from the U.S. Department of Energy place the number of jobs supported by advanced energy in California at over 550,000 in 2016.
About Advanced Energy Economy
Advanced Energy Economy (AEE) is a national association of businesses making the energy we use secure, clean, and affordable. AEE’s mission is to transform public policy to enable rapid growth of advanced energy businesses. AEE works with member companies located and doing business in California to help the state reach its energy and climate goals. Visit AEE online at www.aee.net
Media Contacts:
Susan DeVico, 510-339-1527, susandv@aol.com
Monique Hanis, 202-391-0884, mhanis@aee.net