Air quality agency approves first-in-the-nation fees for emissions.
Jumping ahead of state and federal regulators, the Bay Area air quality district became the first in the nation on Wednesday to impose fees on businesses that pump some of the highest levels of carbon dioxide into the air each year.
The 15-1 vote by the Bay Area Air Quality Management District sets the stage for 2,500 companies and agencies - from supermarkets to gas stations to power plants - to pay 4.4 cents for every metric ton of carbon dioxide they expel, beginning July 1. The top 10 companies combined would pay more than $820,000. The fee for a large share of businesses would be less than $1.
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The district took the historic step as federal and state officials mull how and when to reduce the gases that many scientists blame for pushing up the Earth's temperatures and changing weather patterns. As much as the regulation will create a framework for pursuing the biggest carbon polluters in the region, it also provided a chance for the district to make a statement on the speed with which its counterparts in Sacramento and Washington are tackling the problem.
"Someone needs to take a first step, and we're running out of time, when you look at the bay rising 3 feet by 2100 and the devastating effects of climate change," said San Mateo County Supervisor Jerry Hill, the air district chairman. "This is a more expensive proposition if we do nothing."
Read full article: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/05/21/BADN10QD6O.DTL