Who knew that the LA Times could cover topics unrelated to Kobe Bryant! In today's LA Times, Severin Borenstein has an excellent piece about the political economy of California's nascent carbon cap & trade market. Starting in January 2015, gas refiners will be included under the cap and at $12 a ton for carbon dioxide this will raise the price of California gas by 10 cents a gallon. Severin correctly notes that the refining lobby has over-stated the doom and gloom for Suburban residents and being an excellent economist he is also clear that there is "no free lunch". Fossil fuel prices will rise in California and this will trigger behavioral change and some pain for middle class suburban households (see Holian and Kahn 2014).
During a time when gas prices are falling, such suburbanites do not have too much to complain about. Do you remember Thaler's behavioral ideas of asking people to commit to save a % of future raises? This gas price increase during a time of trending down gas prices is a first cousin and thus should face less backlash.
I agree with Severin's last paragraph of the piece that California is the green guinea pig and its ability to launch this field experiment will provide valuable lessons that the rest of the world has the option to adopt.