Another US carbon pricing plan has died.
The Transportation and Climate Initiative — a cap-and-trade program covering cars in three northeastern states and the District of Columbia — was abandoned last week after Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont (D) and Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker (R) pulled the plug. electrical outlet. in the program.
The announcement represents the latest setback for carbon pricing plans in the United States and raises questions about how policymakers in the Northeast plan to address transportation emissions, the region's largest source of greenhouse gas emissions.
“It wasn't my favorite idea because I didn't like holding Massachusetts decisions hostage to other states,” said Massachusetts state Sen. Michael Barrett, a Democrat and top Beacon Hill lobbyist. “My worst fears have been realized. It has essentially been canceled by governors of other states.”
The plan has been in trouble for months. Twelve states and D.C. spent years creating the plan, but only Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and D.C. signed on when it was unveiled late last year. Lamont, in particular, faced challenges building support for the idea in Connecticut.
“Look, I couldn't do this when gas prices were at record lows,” Lamont he said Connecticut reporter. “So I think lawmakers are pretty clear: It's going to be hard to push when gas prices are this high, so no.”
Baker has been the program's most vocal champion, but a spokesman for the governor said it didn't make sense for Massachusetts to continue with so little regional support.
“The Baker-Polito administration has always argued that the Commonwealth would only move forward with TCI if multiple states committed, and with that not in place, the Transportation Climate Initiative is no longer the best solution for the Commonwealth's transportation and environmental needs.” , Terry McCormack. , the regional governor's press representative said in a statement.
TCI's collapse comes amid a dramatic shift in carbon pricing policy. Many conservatives have long opposed the idea, arguing that carbon pricing would raise energy costs. But support for carbon pricing is also waning among climate hawks. A pair of carbon pricing ballot initiatives have failed in Washington state in recent years. And carbon pricing has failed to gather any serious momentum in congressional negotiations this year on a massive climate bill.
TCI was based on one of the nation's only existing carbon pricing plans, the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, a cap-and-trade program for power plants. Supporters said it would cut respiratory emissions by a quarter while raising more than $3 billion for clean transportation investments (Climatewire, 22 December 2020). But it faced skepticism from critics concerned about cost and environmental justice. they expressed concern that it would do little to reduce pollution in communities of color.
Its failure raises big questions about how Northeastern states plan to deal with tailpipe emissions. In Massachusetts, transportation accounts for 42 percent of greenhouse gas emissions, far exceeding emissions from buildings (27 percent) and electricity (19 percent).
Connecticut's transportation emissions are more than double the next largest sources — buildings and electricity — together.
Alli Gold Roberts, director of state policy at Ceres, said selling lawmakers on a complex regulatory program at a time when states are lining up to receive a huge influx of federal dollars proved to be a deadly combination for TCI.
Massachusetts officials expect the state to receive about $10 billion from the bipartisan infrastructure package and federal clean transportation funding to give a big boost to the state's efforts to address tailpipe emissions, Gold Roberts said.
But he noted that the federal government money comes without an explicit assurance of emissions reductions.
“I think they're going to have to get creative about how to set transportation specific goals for sure,” Gold Roberts said. “They will have to find other tools in the toolbox. The urgency of the moment requires them to accelerate in other ways.”
Barrett and state Sen. Marc Pacheco, another leading Massachusetts climate hawk, said it's time for the commonwealth to consider joining California's economy-wide cap-and-trade program. A Massachusetts climate law passed earlier this year requires the state to cut greenhouse emissions in half by 2030 and present a plan by June for emissions reductions over the next three years.
Massachusetts would not be the only state to consider joining California. Washington state passed a law earlier this year that paves the way for Quebec to join the Golden State's program (ClimatewireApril 27).
“It's a huge market in the West,” Pacheco said. “There is potential for this carbon market to continue.”
