FORGET IT, JAKE — IT’S SACRAMENTO: Court appeal argues California emissions trading plan akin to ‘illegal tax’

California’s cap-and-trade program sets an overall limit on greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) and either hands out or sells a declining number of state-issued permits, which large manufacturers and oil refineries are required to turn in annually.

The lawsuit by business group CalChamber argues that the state legislature never authorized the California Air Resources Board (ARB) to collect revenue from the program when it passed AB 32, its landmark climate change law.

Revenue from the program funds clean energy programs, especially in poorer communities, and helps finance the state’s ambitious high speed rail project.

“The lawsuit does not challenge any of the provisions of AB 32, including cap-and-trade authority, nor the merits of climate change science,” said Denise Davis of the CalChamber.

It just argues that the state has no right to sell permits and generate revenue, she said.

You can’t let little things like constitutional law stand in the way of progress.