Perhaps the Least-Known, but Most Important Election Result

California's statewide ballot initiative Proposition 23 to delay and curb implementation of the 2006-passed AB 32, California carbon emission cap-and-trade mandate failed last night by nearly a 2-1 margin. Early polling had many believing the prop had a chance to pass driving over $30 mil in environmentalist funds for ads and an opposition campaign into the state. Prop 23's failure greenlights the continued advancement of the California Air Resources Board's implementation of the state's cap-and-trade system and early action measures such as the recently completed Refrigerant Management Regulations, and the pursuit of California-specific commercial refrigeration standards.

It remains to be seen how this will play out, but California- with its ailing economy- may become the country's petri dish to definitively determine the economic impact of economy-wide caps on carbon emissions.