Enviro Challenges Loom Over Funding Bid For $68B Rail Plan

Law360
January 8, 2014
"Enviro Challenges Loom Over Funding Bid For $68B Rail Plan"
Farella Environmental Partner Robert Hines comments on California Governor Jerry Brown's proposal to use $250 million from cap-and-trade proceeds and where opposition may come from.

Opposition over the governor’s funding proposal also could come from farming communities and irrigation districts that are upset the planned rail would cut through prime farmland. But critics of the funding could face an uphill battle, according to Hines. He said having the rail project draw on cap-and-trade proceeds, which come in part from carbon-emission allowance auctions, appeared to be in line with A.B. 32’s goals of curbing global warming.
 
“This use of funds is much more consistent with what the general population expected the proceeds from the auctions would be used for,” he said.
 
Despite critics’ concerns that the rail project would not likely lead to emission reductions for years to come, Hines said that tended to be the case for many environmental projects.
 
“There are no overnight solutions to any of the climate change issues that the state’s currently facing,” he said. “We need to take a long view.”

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