Beyond the Illusion of Progress: Addressing the Industrial Emission Gap in California’s Cap-and-Trade System (Part 2)
Disincentivized Reductions: The Unintended Consequences of California’s Climate Policies As an academic deeply concerned about the intersection of environmental policy and economic strategy, I am struck by the urgent need to address the dichotomy in California’s climate policies. While the state has made commendable progress in reducing emissions from the power sector, largely due to its transition from natural gas to renewable energy sources, the industrial sector’s emissions remain stubbornly high. This imbalance underscores the critical flaws in the state’s cap-and-trade system, which has inadvertently disincentivized emission reductions where they are most urgently needed. My interest is in understanding how a theoretically sound policy like cap-and-trade can falter when applied across sectors with varying emission sources. California’s cap-and-trade system offers an intriguing case study of market-based solutions' strengths and limitations. While the policy has proven effect
