California doubled down on its green economy Wednesday as the legislature passed a pair of bills that set ambitious new targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The new goals are being hailed by environmentalists for providing the certainty needed to ramp up clean-tech investment. Governor Jerry Brown announced in a press conference that opponents of the new targets were vanquished. Indeed, there had hardly been a squeak from the oil industry or anyone else.

Maybe thats because the cap-and-trade exchange that allows heavy polluters to mitigate their damage by purchasing emission credits, and which is one of the states most embattled emission-reduction programs, got kicked down the road. All summer the new emissions goals were embroiled in intense negotiations centered on cap-and-trade talks that included the legislature, the governor and representatives of Big Oil and other heavy industries. Industry wants certainty about buying into the exchange, which has suffered from low participation in its auctions and is the subject of a lawsuit by the state Chamber of Commerce, and many programs seemed to be on the table.

Capital & Main reported in July on the tumultuous and confusing signals coming from the governors office, which seemed to indicate that Brown was not only desperate to pass Senate Bill 32, but that he was also trying to strike a grand bargain with the Western States Petroleum Association (WSPA) and other trade groups to save the cap-and-trade program. This led many to speculate in background conversations that the state might have to sacrifice one of its nation-leading emission-reduction programs. SB 32 is a linchpin of state climate strategy, as it codifies the governors former executive order to ratchet up greenhouse gas reduction goals from 1990 levels by 2020 to 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2030.

The negotiations were colored by bruising battles in 2015, when moderate Democrats helped block SB 32 and stripped a provision to reduce gasoline use out of another key bill, SB 350 , that increased the states Renewable Portfolio Standard to require 50 percent clean-energy usage by 2030.

And then SB 32 sailed through. Have we entered a new era of climate change cooperation? Is somebody keeping their powder dry for bigger battles still to come over state cap-and-trade or other programs? Were foes truly vanquished?