“Governor Newsom’s budget proposal is a bold step toward ensuring California makes the investments necessary to address the magnitude of the climate crisis, improve environmental equity, support a clean economy and protect public health,” Katelyn Roedner Sutter, senior manager for U.S.
Every metric ton of carbon dioxide kept out of the atmosphere is worth a single carbon credit, which can be bought once per year. Carbon Streaming sells these credits on “spot” markets to businesses — like Delta Airlines — seeking to counter their emissions, and gives 90 percent of the money back to the project.
For U.S. companies outside California, buying carbon credits on the voluntary markets are the only way to reduce net emissions — short, that is, of cutting them from their own operations.
How this works, practically speaking: “Let’s say I’m McDonalds, and I have to disclose my carbon footprint,” Cochrane said.
Disincentivizing deforestation: “It’s not hard to end deforestation, you just need proper incentives,” Cochrane continued.