The National
Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) Small Business Legal Center recently filed
an amicus brief in support of
California businesses contesting the decision of the California Air Resources
Board to auction “emission allowance” permits under its cap-and-trade program. Luke Wake, Senior Staff
Attorney for the NFIB Legal Center commented on the filing.
“However powerful
the California Air Resources Board (CARB) may be, its mandate to reduce
California’s emissions cannot justify imposing unnecessary burdens on small
business. CARB is stretching beyond its lawful authority in extorting billions
of dollars from California’s businesses without any legitimate regulatory
purpose.”
“The word “auction”
does not even appear in the text of AB 32. Nonetheless CARB assumes it has
authority to auction emission allowances because the Legislature gave the
agency power to design a system of cap-and-trade regulation. In turn, they
believe they have the power to design a system for distributing emission allowances
in any manner they see fit – even if it means imposing unnecessary costs on
California’s economy, for a purpose entirely unrelated to the goal of reducing
greenhouse gases.”
“The irony is that
they could achieve their regulatory goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions
under the cap-and-trade program without auctioning emission allowances. It just
goes to show once again, the anti-business attitude of CARB.”
