Curry, M. (2021, February 11). Environmental justice Members resign from CARB Task force on carbon offsets. Retrieved February 24, 2021, from https://cal.streetsblog.org/2021/02/11/environmental-justice-members-resign-from-carb-task-force-on-carbon-offsets/

 

California has a carbon offset program in place to allow companies to offset their carbon output as part of California’s cap-and-trade market plan to reduce emissions. Environmental justice organizers have argued this plan is too slow and ineffective and instead of spurring innovation it simply allows companies to ignore their responsibilities through payment, failing to reduce carbon emissions. Two members of the California Air Resources Board (CARB) resigned after seeing a draft report that in their opinion is marred by special interests and ineffective and they didn’t want to legitimize the report.

 

The article points out that this means low-income communities that are living close to pollution sources would face and worst damage from the toxic pollution. The connection to climate science is clear as it directly involves pollution, the disparate impact it has on disadvantaged communities, and the strategies of the government to mitigate the effects of that pollution, as well as its failures in that effort. CARB has routinely faced difficulty working with climate justice activists as they are generally suspicious of the board and have been concerned about advising it, therefore offering legitimacy to it, even if its actions do not change. I am disappointed by this news both because it appears CARB has failed to adequately address climate change and climate justice with their cap-and-trade and carbon offset programs and because the only method climate justice activists could use to make an impact to reform CARB was to resign. I am particularly concerned the draft report is a plan to expand and deregulate the cap-and-trade system in a manner that directly benefits the finances of a majority of board members. I hope that climate justice advocates will still be able to influence policy going forward.