The first auction Nov. 14 will be the cornerstone of the country's most extensive, market-based, cap-and-trade program for reducing carbon dioxide and other pollutants that contribute to global warming.

Critics, including the California Chamber of Commerce, the California Manufacturers & Technology Assn. and the Western States Petroleum Assn., complained about the potential cost of cap-and-trade. At a daylong hearing, they asked that all of the credits needed to stay below the cap be provided to them at no cost.

The board's chairwoman, however, made it clear at the start of the hearing that her agency has been working on cap-and-trade for three years and isn't about to make substantive changes in the state's plan for combating global warming.

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