Carbon Offsets Undercut California’s Climate Progress: Study

Since the passage of its landmark climate regulations 17 years ago, California has been a leader in the fight against global warming. The state reached its 2020 emissions target four years early. It has set a timeline to phase out the sale of gasoline-powered cars, and utilities in the state must get 60% of their electricity from renewable sources by the end of the decade.

But for all of California’s progress, some of it is being undercut by a problem with one of the state’s key climate policies, according to a research paper published Thursday.

That policy, known as cap and ...