California's AB 1404 Offsets Bill Hits the Senate Floor

Sometime this week, the California Senate is expected to vote on a bill that addresses the role of offsets in the state's landmark global warming policies.

The bill, AB 1404, limits offsets to no more than 10 percent of the emission reductions expected to be achieved through market mechanisms in each compliance period of implementing AB 32, California's 2006 global warming bill. It would also exclude the CDM as an option for California's polluters, thereby eliminating the possibility that credits from projects like dirty hydropower could enter the state's cap-and-trade program. AB 1404 has the support of the Union of Concerned Scientists, the California State Building and Construction Trades Council, and more than 90 health, labor, environmental, faith, social justice and civic organizations, including International Rivers.