SAN FRANCISCO – California sold out of the first pollution permits issued as part of a landmark offensive against greenhouse gases at an inaugural auction that regulators said Monday went smoothly.

The effort to curtail carbon emissions involved the sale of 23.1 million permits – each allowing for the release of one ton of carbon – for $10.09 apiece, the California Air Resources Board said.

The permit sales last week opened the largest carbon marketplace in the nation and the second-biggest in the world after the European Union. The California air board will hold four such auctions a year.