Western Climate Initiative
| Abbreviation | WCI |
|---|---|
| Formation | February 2007 |
| Type | Coalition |
| Purpose | Reduce global warming and ocean acidification, promote energy efficiency and clean energy investments |
| Headquarters | (none) |
|
Membership
|
Current or former partners: Arizona, California, Montana, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario, and Quebec Current or former observers: Alaska, Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Nevada, Wyoming, Saskatchewan, Baja California, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo Leon, Sonora and Tamaulipas |
| Website | Western Climate Initiative |
The Western Climate Initiative, or WCI, was started in February 2007 by the governors of five western U.S. states (AZ, CA, NM, OR, and WA) with the goal of developing a multi-sector, market-based program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The Western Climate Initiative, or WCI, was started in February 2007 by the governors of five western states (AZ, CA, NM, OR, and WA) to evaluate and implement ways to reduce their states's emissions of greenhouse gases and achieve related co-benefits. These states and future participants in the initiative (collectively known as WCI "partners") also committed to set an overall regional goal to reduce emissions (set in August 2007 as 15 percent below 2005 emission levels by 2020), participate in a cross-border greenhouse gas registry to consistently measure and track emissions, and adopt clean tailpipe standards for passenger vehicles. By July 2008, the initiative had expanded to include two more U.S. states (MT and UT) and four Canadian provinces (BC, MB, ON, and QC). Together, these WCI partners comprised 20 percent of U.S. GDP and 76 percent of Canadian GDP.
The most ambitious and controversial objective of the WCI was to develop a multi-sector, market-based program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Detailed design recommendations for a regional cap-and-trade program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions were released by the WCI in September 2008 and July 2010. By December 2011, California and Quebec adopted regulations based on these recommendations. (The WCI has no regulatory authority of its own.) Key administrative aspects of the regional cap-and-trade program are being implemented in 2012. Power plants, refineries, and other large emitters must comply with the cap in 2013. Other greenhouse gas emission sources, such as suppliers of transportation fuels, must comply with the cap beginning in 2015. Among other things, the Western Climate Initiative lays the foundation for a North American cap-and-trade program, not only in its design and implementation, but in its potential acceptance of greenhouse gas emissions offsets from projects across North America.
Some observers described the entire project as greenwash designed to avoid committing to the , and cited evidence that much more drastic cuts, up to 40%, could be achieved without affecting investment yield in equities, a good indicator that such cuts would not affect economic prospects in the economy as a whole.
Some watchdogs expressed concerns over why WCI was set up in the state of Delaware as an anonymous shell company that would evade public scrutiny.
The CEO of CARB James Goldstene, is also listed as the Chairman of the Board of WCI Inc. and the head of the auction oversight group. - See more at: http://calwatchdog.com/2012/10/23/cap-and-trade-manipulation-leads-to-wci-inc/#sthash.g9zrPDbB.dpuf
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