Western Climate Initiative Issues Final Design Document
Thursday, September 2, 2010 at 2:50PM Following the collapse of climate change legislation in the US Senate, on July 27, 2010, the Western Climate Initiative (“WCI”) released the Final Design for its regional cap-and-trade program. The WCI was formed in 2007 with a goal of reducing regional greenhouse gas emissions 15 percent below 2005 levels by 2020. Currently, seven states and four Canadian provinces are participating members of the WCI, while a number of other states and provinces in the United States, Canada, and Mexico have joined as observers. The WCI’s cap-and-trade program, which is scheduled to take effect on January 1, 2012, will apply to all economic sectors, including emissions from electricity generation, industrial sources, transportation, and residential and industrial fuel combustion.