The Latest: California carbon auctions challenged in court

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The Latest on oral arguments in cases challenging California’s carbon auctions (all times local):

12:38 p.m.

Lawyers are defending California’s fee for carbon pollution in a state appeals court as businesses seek to invalidate one of the world’s most closely watched efforts to combat climate change.

Three appellate judges heard arguments Tuesday and have until late April to issue a decision on a case that threatens a central piece of Gov. Jerry Brown’s legacy.

California has raised billions of dollars by auctioning off the right to pollute as part of the state’s “cap and trade” program.

The California Chamber of Commerce and a tomato processing company filed suit arguing the auctions amount to a tax that is unconstitutional because it wasn’t approved by two-thirds of the state Assembly and Senate.

Lawyers for the state say they amount to regulatory fees, which don’t require a supermajority.

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12 a.m.

Businesses looking to invalidate California’s fee for carbon pollution take their arguments to a state appeals court Tuesday in a case that could determine the future of one of California’s signature efforts to combat climate change.

With a central piece of Gov. Jerry Brown’s legacy on the line, lawyers for the state and for environmental advocacy groups will defend a program that has been closely watched around the world as a potential model for controlling carbon emissions.

Uncertainty surrounding the case has already been a major factor in upending the market for pollution permits. The permits consistently raised hundreds of millions of dollars a year until demand plummeted in 2016.

Judges will have until late April to issue a decision.