This article originally appeared on the Natural Resources Defense Council's Switchboard blog, and is reprinted with permission.

In the aftermath of the California Air Resources Board’s historic vote to adopt the nation’s first-of-its kind program to cap global warming pollution across California’s economy, understandably there are questions about what the program will accomplish and how it will get us there.  Below, I will attempt to clear up 10 common misconceptions about the program:

Q1:  Isn’t cap-and-trade dead?

A:  For the moment, the federal government has stalled in its attempts to create a market to reduce global warming pollution. However, California and other states are moving forward with a plethora of clean energy policies. In California, one of these policies, accounting for about 20% of our global warming pollution reductions under AB 32, is cap-and-trade. This policy works in concert with other policies such as a Renewable Portfolio Standard and Clean Cars and Clean Fuels standards to ensure we reduce our pollution in the most cost-effective way possible.

Q2:  Why is California going it alone?

A:  California is leading the nation to join the global clean energy economy, but we are certainly not going it alone.  Twenty-two other states are also on the road of creating a clean energy economy through policies similar to California’s.  California’s program is also carefully designed to ensure it does not put businesses that are working to reduce their emissions at a competitive disadvantage relative to other jurisdictions.

Q3: How can California do anything to address a global problem?

A: By showing that smart clean energy policies work for both our environmental and economic health. Certainly, California’s pioneering efforts alone are not enough to turn the tide on global climate change. But California has shown time and again that the economy and the environment go hand in hand – examples of successful policies include reducing air pollution, dramatically improving the energy efficiency of buildings and appliances, and demanding cleaner cars and trucks.  Many of these policies, once shown effective in California, were then adopted in some form at a federal level.  California can again show that protecting our health and environment and growing the economy are complimentary goals, thus igniting action on a larger scale.   

Q4: But in the meantime isn’t this going to kill jobs and hurt California’s already struggling economy?

A:  Quite the opposite.  Clean energy is the fastest growing sector of California’s economy, growing 10% since 2005. Clean energy policies like cap-and-trade send a steady signal to the market that California is the place to invest in innovative new businesses that bring jobs to the state. So far, that signal has been working: California annually attracts more cleantech investment capital than the rest of North America combined and has brought in $11 billion since AB 32 passed in 2006, creating thousands of businesses and jobs in its wake. By placing a price on carbon, this newly adopted market will maintain California’s competitive advantage in the global push for clean energy.

Q5:  Isn’t cap-and-trade a big boondoggle for Chevron?  Why don’t we just regulate them instead?

A: Cap-and-trade is regulation.  It is a market-based regulation, but it nonetheless requires reductions in pollution that we would not get otherwise.  In fact, cap-and-trade ensures a hard cap or limit on pollution where other policies (such as intensity standards or a carbon tax) do not guarantee that hard limit.  California’s cap-and-trade program allows for flexibility in determining how to reduce pollution in the most cost-effective manner; it does not allow for flexibility in whether to reduce pollution at all.