California’s carbon market reaches an inflection point
With ramifications for the West Coast and beyond
IT WAS THE equivalent of a warning siren. The results of California’s latest auction of carbon allowances, released on May 29th, showed that prices had hit the floor. Each quarter companies shell out for credits that cover their greenhouse-gas emissions. Demand is weak, and lower revenues from the auction are bad news for lawmakers who are already trying to plug a $12bn budget deficit. The poor showing is also a signal that firms are not confident that California’s cap-and-trade programme, the fourth-largest carbon market in the world, will continue to exist.
Explore more
This article appeared in the United States section of the print edition under the headline “Cap and fade”
United States
June 7th 2025- Meet SCOTUSbot, our AI tool to predict Supreme Court rulings
- Pete Hegseth once scared America’s allies. Now he reassures them
- Elon Musk’s failure in government
- Police are cracking down on cyclists in New York City
- California’s carbon market reaches an inflection point
- What a New Jersey election says about MAGA America
- Why stricter voting laws no longer help Republicans
From the June 7th 2025 edition
Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents
Explore the edition
Jeffrey Epstein is still causing trouble for Donald Trump
His administration cannot shake rumours of a cover-up—in part because MAGA types enthusiastically endorsed it
What went wrong in the Texas floods?
DOGE may not have been to blame but local politicians have a case to answer
American men are hungry for injectable testosterone
A legion of new health clinics are serving it up
Trump embarrasses the Pentagon with a U-turn on Ukraine
His decision to resume arms shipments is a victory for common sense—while it lasts
ICE’s big payday makes mass deportation possible
What the controversial agency will do with even more funding