AEE Applauds Proposal for Cap-and-Trade Extension to Continue Advanced Energy Growth in California
Legislative package would extend program to 2030, fine-tune market operations, improve air quality, while providing regulatory certainty for advanced energy investment
San Francisco, July 11, 2017 – Today, national business group Advanced Energy Economy applauded a proposal to extend California’s cap-and-trade program to reduce carbon emissions. The proposal was presented in the form of two bills: Assembly Bill 398 to extend the life of the program until 2030, and modify how the cap-and-trade market operates; and Assembly Bill 617 to address concerns about air quality in communities by increasing monitoring and imposing stricter penalties on polluters.
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.
“We applaud Governor Brown, Speaker Rendon, and Senate President Pro Tem De León for this proposal. By extending its effective cap-and-trade program, California will continue to lead on transforming our energy infrastructure to secure, clean, affordable sources while driving economic growth,” said Graham Richard, CEO of Advanced Energy Economy. “Today’s advanced energy industry supports more than half a million jobs in the state. By extending cap and trade, the legislature can keep the momentum going for jobs and the economy.”
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