MONTREAL — The Trump administration won’t slow down Quebec’s progress on reducing carbon emissions, Premier Francois Legault said Wednesday following news that California is being sued for working with the province on fighting climate change.
Legault said he would prefer that California stays in what’s known as a cap and trade system, but he said the program is still viable without the U.S. state. Moreover, Legault told reporters in Quebec City, other U.S. governors have shown interest in joining the program.
The Trump administration filed a lawsuit in California, alleging the state usurped federal power to conduct foreign policy to make international accords when it signed an ongoing agreement with Quebec to limit emissions.
California “veered outside its proper constitutional lane,” Assistant U.S. Attorney General Jeffrey Bossert Clark said in a statement.
Companies in Quebec and California that emit large amounts of greenhouse gases are required to purchase allowances, with prices set in joint auctions held four times a year. Quebec joined California’s auction system in 2014 and Ontario did the same in 2017, only to exit the agreement a year later.
“We are satisfied with the carbon market,” Legault said. “If California exits, I think we can continue alone, but we prefer that California stays in the carbon market.”
Legault called the cap and trade program, “intelligent,” adding, “I prefer that system to a carbon tax.”
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See Also:
(1) Trump administration sues California over cap and trade agreement with Quebec
