California has averted nearly 1,000 premature cardiopulmonary deaths and nearly 3,000 cases of childhood asthma through environmental projects funded by the state cap-and-trade emissions program, a new report says.
Since its launch in 2013, the cap-and-trade program has raised $13 billion for projects that have improved public health, protected against wildfires and increased renewable energy generation, according to the California Air Resources Board, the state regulatory body that wrote the report.
But the agency warns that the projects — called California Climate Investments — face a treacherous future as the Trump administration “is trying to tear down California’s authority to address harmful pollution.”
“The path forward is paved with major challenges,” the agency, known as CARB, said in its annual report on climate investments.
