Foundation Brings Cap-and-Trade Program Experts to Policy Makers
Experts shaping California’s environmental future came to Sacramento earlier this month to present a briefing on their groundbreaking studies examining efforts to reduce carbon emissions.
The studies by the researchers from the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) have redefined thinking about carbon dioxide removal (CDR) and climate strategy in California and across the nation.
The briefing was organized by the California Foundation for Commerce and Education (CFCE), a nonpartisan, nonprofit research organization affiliated with the California Chamber of Commerce.
The researchers presented an explanation of the cap-and-trade program: California’s Cap and Trade Explained. Balancing Growth with Climate Stringency.
Their groundbreaking studies are:
• Getting to Neutral: Options for Negative Carbon Emissions in California and
• Roads to Removal: Options for Carbon Dioxide Removal in the United States.
California’s cap-and-trade program, implemented in 2013, applies to major industrial facilities, power plants and fuel suppliers. Cap-and-trade places a firm, annually declining “cap” on greenhouse gas emissions. Those emissions are tied to tradable “allowances,” most of which are distributed in quarterly auctions managed by the California Air Resources Board (CARB).
Speakers
Speaking at the briefing were the following LLNL researchers:
• Dr. Caspar Donnison, principal investigator, an environmental economist with nearly a decade of experience in CDR science and policy across the United States and Europe. He has advised the government of the United Kingdom and published extensively on strategies like Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS).
• Dr. Roger Aines, co-investigator, the energy program chief scientist at LLNL and a national leader in carbon removal innovation. He led LLNL’s Carbon Initiative and most recently served as senior advisor for CDR at the U.S. Department of Energy.
• Susan Houghton, project manager and leader of the Carbon Management and Energy Research Portfolio at Livermore Lab Foundation. She spearheaded the national stakeholder engagement strategy behind Roads to Removal and has a deep understanding of the real-world implementation landscape.
Hearing directly from experts shaping California’s environmental future allowed briefing attendees to gain insights about the bold, science-based pathways that could define the next era of climate leadership.
CalChamber supports a simple reauthorization or “clean” extension of the cap-and-trade program through 2045. Governor Gavin Newsom proposed this kind of extension in his revised state budget plan this spring.