Will California Lead to Way to Cap and Trade?

California regulators just passed a new plan for a cap and trade market place to give monetary incentives to big polluters to clean up their act.  When I first read the article I was wondering, where are they going to get the money to do this.  Apparently the plan is to get the polluters to pay for it, first by getting permits to pollute and then when some are greener, selling their carbon permits to other companies that pollute more.  The regulators even claim polluters could make money, it would be a carbon emissions stock market. 

Of course it has its detractors, companies who say it will raise electricity prices because some of the biggest polluters are coal plants, and others who are worried the system can be cheated and not really lower pollution at all.  I guess we'll have to see.  It will certainly be a good test case to see if this kind of system can actually work.  Most innovative ideas come from states and if they become popular, then they are adopted by the Federal Government.