Business Lobby Balks at California Auction of Carbon Emission Rights

On the eve of the first auction for carbon-emission permits in California, the state's Chamber of Commerce filed a lawsuit that slams the plan as a "money grab." By auctioning carbon allowances to entities responsible for the majority of the state's pollution, the California Air Resources Board has created an unconstitutional tax, according to the complaint filed Tuesday in superior court. "This action brought by an unelected state board to use regulatory statutes to raise tens of billions dollars from taxpayers is unprecedented in our state's history," the powerful business lobby claims. "Even the elected and democratically accountable Legislature and governors of California have never imposed such a massive tax/fee. "What is shocking about this money grab, in addition to the fact it exceeds the authority granted to the regulatory agency by the Legislature, is the agency's admission that this revenue-raising component of its regulations is unnecessary to achieve the purposes of the regulatory scheme." The chamber says that its lawsuit is not about the merits of climate change, nor does it challenge the Legislature's authority to manage the state's greenhouse gas emissions. "This lawsuit is about one thing and one thing only - the lack of authority of the unelected, politically-appointed Air Resources Board to engraft into a regulatory program a $70 billion or more revenue-raising device that would impose what is in effect an invalid tax or an unconstitutional fee," the complaint states...more