California approves new round of clean-energy car rebates

SACRAMENTO — The state will invest millions of dollars into a popular program that gives drivers rebates for buying clean energy cars in California under a $900 million deal approved by Gov. Jerry Brown and the state Legislature on Wednesday.

The last minute deal to spend previously unallocated cap-and-trade revenue was announced on the final day of the legislative session by Brown, Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon, D-Paramount (Los Angeles County), and Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de Leon, D-Los Angeles.

Under the deal, the program will lower the cap on how much a person can earn and still qualify for the rebates following criticism that the state was essentially subsidizing wealthy people buying expensive Teslas.

Cap-and-trade is a state programs that aims to fight climate change by capping the amount of greenhouse gases large companies can emit and requiring those businesses to buy permits at auctions if they pollute above those caps.

A bulk of cap-and-trade revenue - 60 percent - is already promised to high-speed rail, affordable housing, public transit and other programs.

Under Wednesday’s deal, $900 million of those unallocated funds will go toward programs like expanding inner city rail systems and meeting methane emission reduction targets in the dairy and livestock industry.

With this agreement, we take an aggressive approach to investing cap-and-trade funds that provides tangible results for cleaner air and helps lower income Californians benefit from emission reduction programs.