BC Opens Consultation Period on Cap-and-Trade Regulations

While California's low carbon regime faces an existential crisis (see previous post California Dreaming: Why Ontarians Need to Wake-Up to Proposition 23), its Western Climate Initiative (WCI) partner British Columbia is moving full speed ahead with its introduction of a greenhouse gas (GHG) offset and emissions trading regulation. 

The BC Ministry of Environment announced on October 22 that a public consultation period had begun on its proposed regulations for large GHG emitters. The Ministry is seeking comments from stakeholders including First Nations and the general public on the proposed regulation. The consultation period will last for 45 days and end on December 6, 2010. The timing is in line with BC's commitment under the WCI to meet a planned start date of January 1, 2012 for linking a live cap-and-trade system with the other WCI members including seven US states and the Canadian provinces of Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec.

A cap-and-trade system will permit these governments to issue allowances to entities that emit GHGs and then if those entities reduce emissions below their limits, the entities will be able to sell or bank surplus allowances for future use.

For further information on the BC consultation process, please click here.

For a more in-depth review of the process, please check out my colleague Svend Andersen's site GHG Accounting.