SACRAMENTO – Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today issued the following statement after the province of Ontario announced that it intends to limit greenhouse gas pollution by establishing a cap-and-trade system:
“This is a bold move from the province of Ontario – and the challenge we face demands further action from other states and provinces around the world,” said Governor Brown. “There’s a human cost to the billions of tons of carbon spewing into our atmosphere and there must be a price on it.”
Governor Brown has signed accords with leaders from Mexico, China, Canada, Japan, Israel and Peru to fight climate change, strengthen California’s economic ties and expand cooperation on promising research. California and the province of Québec have worked together to fully harmonize their cap-and-trade programs and on January 1, 2014, the California Cap-and-Trade Program and Québec Cap-and-Trade System officially linked. In his January inaugural address, Governor Brown announced that within the next 15 years, California will increase from one-third to 50 percent our electricity derived from renewable sources; reduce today’s petroleum use in cars and trucks by up to 50 percent; and double the efficiency of existing buildings and make heating fuels cleaner.