Covering California’s cap-and-trade program and the latest quarterly auction results, E&E News spoke with Near Zero’s Danny Cullenward:

Businesses may also be snapping up allowances to use after 2020, when the market’s cap is set to ratchet down significantly in order to meet California’s goal of 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2030.

“The number of allowances offered for sale at auction right now is significantly higher than covered emissions are going to be,” said Danny Cullenward, policy director at the think tank Near Zero and a member of a state-appointed emissions market advisory committee. “When people buy all of the allowances, oversupply is growing because we’re offering more allowances than people need in the short term.”

Read the full article, “Snub from Ontario doesn’t dampen Calif. auction” by Debra Kahn, on the E&E News website (subscription required).