Effective Tool to Limit Greenhouse Emissions or a "License to Pollute"? A Debate on Cap and Trade

Protesters disrupted the Global Climate Action Summit Thursday, criticizing California Governor Jerry Brown in part for his support for cap and trade. Cap and trade is a market-driven strategy in which governments cap emission levels, then allow companies to buy and sell permits to pollute. California has the most far-reaching cap-and-trade program in the United States. Last year Governor Brown signed an extension to the state's cap-and-trade law, which began under Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Governor Brown has credited cap and trade with limiting the state's greenhouse gas emissions, but the issue has split many environmental groups. We host a debate between Peter Miller, director of the western region Climate & Clean Energy Program for the Natural Resources Defense Council, and Eriel Deranger, founder and executive director of the group Indigenous Climate Action and a member of the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation.