Watch Anne Smart from Silicon Valley Leadership Group speak about Cap and Trade.
A historic milestone was reached November 14, 2012 when Governor Schwartznegger’s California Global Warming Solutions Act came into law, commonly known as Cap and Trade. The bill passed in 2006, and since formation companies and citizens have been vying for where the billions of dollars raised as revenue from these taxes will be used, making Cap and Trade a highly coveted prize for heads of corporate state.
In simple terms, Cap and Trade forces companies to pay taxes based on carbon emissions and allows companies to trade carbon credits – if they are good at keeping their footprint below the allotted amount. When billions of dollars are at stake, without a specified use, the lobbyists are out in droves. And this is BIG money with vague spending limits. Anne Smart explains the power grab and why these creative exchanges mean so much to companies allowing them flexibility to trade.
This trading isn’t exactly open market; however, but done with a gavel. Wednesday marked California’s first mandatory auction. The model has been successful for other states, so likely the term “going, going, gone” will not impede progress as the East Coast has been holding voluntary auctions with great success.
The Silicon Valley Leadership Group is a business trade association and 501.c6 member driven organization founded by David Packard of Hewlett Packard back in 1978. Packard founded SVLG to help CEOs work with politicians. So essentially they are a public private partnership. They advocate for policies and programs that improve the quality of life for companies and employees in Silicon Valley. Based in San Jose, there are approximately 375 member companies, many are major tech companies everyone knows about, such as Google, Apple, Intel and HP. Almost all of them contribute to the ongoing development of the clean tech marketplace.
As the Director of Energy, Anne is versed in the ways of policy and partnerships toggling her time between Sacramento, DC and Silicon Valley. Anne Smart leads SVLG’s energy group, and her work is helping clean tech companies find access to capital – or help large tech companies make their campuses more green and sustainable. Most of her job involves working in Sacramento or Washington DC on regulations or policies to insure there is a business voice in the room and to insure we are truly advancing clean tech business and technology.
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Learn more about the Silicon Valley Leadership Group http://svlg.org/
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