In recent days, the state of California quietly took a significant step forward toward implementing progressive environmental policy. According to an LA Times report, the state's Air Resources Board approved the first state-run cap-and-trade program.
The policy "paves the way for the carbon trading market," the Times article noted. That 21st Century agora essentially encourages industrial firms to reduce air pollution. In extremely simplified terms, this is accomplished through the trading of financial credits for documented carbon emissions.
It's a scheme currently used in Western Europe, and according the Union of Concerned Scientists and others, offers a way forward in the worthwhile effort to reduce air pollution in developed countries.
The California Air Resources Board chairwoman, Mary D. Nichols, said "We've done something important." She's right.
