January 26, 2007

California Discusses Joining EU’s Emissions Trading Scheme

EU Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas said members of his staff met with Californian officials last week, before Bush’s State of the Union address, and discussed how to bring the state into the 27-nation bloc’s trading scheme for greenhouse gas emissions, according to PlanetSave. The Commissioner said the EU would like to make the state’s planned program fit with a European one that has been operating for two years.

“We are trying to make their trading scheme harmonized in order to have them linked in the future,” Dimas said.

Bush’s plans for reducing emissions and preventing climate change did not include a cap-and-trade system.

Californian officials were quick to remark on Bush’s speech. California’s Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said he “appreciated” the president’s acknowledgment of climate change, adding that “acknowledging climate change is not enough. We must take steps to tackle it.”

Yesterday, California environmental officials said that President Bush’s energy plan to reduce gasoline consumption by 20 percent could increase greenhouse gas emissions. “We think it not only does not go far enough but may actually, in some cases, if not done right, will increase greenhouse gas emissions,” California Environmental Protection Agency Secretary Linda Adams said.

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