San Francisco's proposed "cost recovery fee" for the region's biggest corporate carbon emitters may have some unsettling regulatory consequences for business. By Will Sarni

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Once again, California is taking the lead. San Francisco's Bay Area Air Quality Management District recently proposed a levying a fee on the region's largest corporate carbon emitters. (It's considered a "cost recovery fee," not a carbon tax, because the money would go to pay for the air district's global warming reduction program.)

Regional programs, as opposed to a consistent national policy, present a compliance challenge for businesses. If this proposed plan is implemented, and as other regional and state programs come online, businesses may be more inclined to embrace a national emissions-reduction program that will provide some consistency in compliance and associated costs.

I don't know if we are headed for taxes, fees, or cap and trade. But one thing is clear to me: If U.S. carbon regulations are just around the corner (as they most certainly are), the most efficient overall approach for the regulated community is a single national program linked to existing international programs.

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Will Sarni is CEO of sustainability consulting firm DOMANI. He is also SLM's expert-in-residence on climate strategy and the host of Climate Management Weekly.