Gold goes green

California is ready to lead the march toward large-scale sustainable infrastructure in the U.S., according to a Washington Post editorial that referred to the effort as “California’s climate-change experiment.” California is launching a greenhouse gas (GHG) cap-and-trade program which “covers major sources of GHG emissions in the State such as refineries, power plants, industrial facilities and transportation fuels,” according to the California Environmental Protection Agency Air Resources Board. But so far, it’s mostly a solo act.

The Post’s editorial expresses concern about the “potential problems that flow from the fact that California is acting alone. As with any market, the bigger a carbon market is, the more efficient it is. But the group of Western states that were going to join California in creating a linked carbon market have not followed through.”

The editorial is referring to the Western Climate Initiative, formed in 2007 by California, New Mexico, Arizona, Oregon and Washington. Nevada was considered an observer, but not an official partner, of the initiative.