Posted on 08/31/2006 6:55:51 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
SACRAMENTO
Sealing a groundbreaking deal to combat global warming, California lawmakers on Thursday sent Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger a bill that would make the state the first in the nation to force its major industries to cut their carbon emissions.
The legislation requires California businesses to begin reporting their emissions of greenhouse gases so the state can slash their output an estimated 25 percent by 2020.
Schwarzenegger has said he would sign the bill, which incorporates guidelines he outlined last year in an executive order. Lawmakers approved the bill by a 47-31 vote, a day after it passed the Senate.
"We cannot debate there is a problem. This country is responsible for the vast majority of greenhouse gases," said Assemblyman Dario Frommer, D-Los Angeles. "I think it's incumbent on us to do something. That's what we're doing here today."
The bill will position the nation's most populous state in the forefront of the national debate over climate change while handing Schwarzenegger a key environmental victory to take on the campaign trail this fall for his re-election.
Democrats and about a dozen Schwarzenegger administration officials spent weeks seeking compromise over legislation that they hope will serve as a national model in the absence of federal regulations.
"We're about to embark on an expedition here in greenhouse gases and be a leader, a leader in the world, something California can truly be proud of," said Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez, D-Los Angeles.
The bill requires the state's major industries such as utility plants, oil and gas refineries, and cement kilns to reduce their emissions of the pollutants widely believed to contribute to global warming. The bill even covers garbage dumps, which emit methane gas.
Among the strategies likely to be employed to achieve the reductions is a market program that had been sought by the administration. It would allow businesses to buy, sell and trade emission credits with other companies.
The 11-member California Air Resources Board, which is appointed by the governor, will oversee the implementation of the emissions cap.
The bill includes a directive that the air board craft a plan that includes a market program as a way to meet the target. A similar program is operating in Europe.
The action was praised by environmentalists who gathered Thursday for a Capitol press conference to thank Schwarzenegger for his endorsement of the proposal. They framed the cap as a step toward fighting global climate change.
But the mandate has been criticized by representatives of industry, among them the California Chamber of Commerce, a key Schwarzenegger ally. Opponents say a California-only cap will increase industry costs and force businesses to scale back their operations.
"It would do nothing to address the intended goal of global warming," said Assemblywoman Mimi Walters, R-Laguna Niguel. "It would require California businesses (to) cut back on production at a time California is growing."
Republicans arguing against the bill Thursday said an emissions cap imposed only in California would do little to curb global emissions if companies relocated their plants to other states or countries.
Some Republicans also disputed the science behind global warming, saying disagreement persists over whether human activity is contributing to what could be a natural cycle in climate change.
"There's a substantial amount of evidence (that) any warming occurring now is a natural occurrence," said Assembly Ray Haynes, R-Murrieta.
The bill's author, Assemblywoman Fran Pavley distributed an eight-page list of individuals, groups and businesses that support the measure.
More than half the list named business entities such as the California Ski Industry Association, Environmental Solar Design and Pacific Gas & Electric Co., the state's largest utility.
"California should be the home of alternate fuels and clean technology providing sustainable jobs for the 21st century," said Pavley, D-Agoura Hills.
Republican Shirley Horton of San Diego, the only Republican to vote for the bill, said a mandatory cap promises to bring 83,000 jobs to California. They would be added in new technology ventures that soon will be in demand across the world, she said.
As a way to ensure that businesses could meet the aggressive cap, Schwarzenegger had said that any bill must include a structure allowing for the creation of a market system. It would allow companies to buy, sell or trade emission credits.
The market approach is especially helpful for industries that cannot meet their emission targets through energy efficiency practices or the use of alternative fuels.
The bill also included a Schwarzenegger provision allowing for a so-called "safety valve." That will allow the governor to delay the emission-cap mandate if the state is hit with a natural disaster, terrorist attack of some other emergency.
California is the world's 12th largest producer of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and could suffer dire consequences if global temperatures increase only a few degrees. Reports by state agencies indicate a 2- to 3-degree rise in temperature could melt the Sierra snowpack earlier each year, lead to flooding in the Central Valley and threaten the state's long-term water supply for cities and farms.
Assemblyman John Laird, D-Santa Cruz, responded to his colleagues who said the Pavley bill would lead to a march of companies and businesses out of California.
"A shutdown of our world climate is a sure-fire job killer," he said. "Coral reefs across the world are dying. Species are dying. It is time for action."
The Pavley bill is one of two pieces of climate change legislation that is going to the governor.
Also Thursday, the Senate passed a bill that would prohibit the state from entering long-term contracts with any out-of-state utility that fails to reduce its carbon dioxide emissions. The bill, by Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata passed 21-14, a day after it was approved in the Assembly.
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On the Net:
Read the bills, AB32 and SB1368 at http://www.assembly.ca.gov and http://www.senate.ca.gov
Mass exodus of businesses!
ping
Ahnold: Signing the bills real Republicans won't sign.
Last one out of CA, turn off the lights
Let's see... the CA State Legislature has outlawed offshore drilling, outlawed building nuclear power plants, outlawed purchasing electricity made from coal... the lights will be out long before everyone gets out.
LOL! You're right!
Texas will open its arm wide for the businesses that leave California!
There I fixed that sentence.
Won't have to. The tree-hugging, Birkenstock-wearing, hairy-assed granola-munchers will have shut down the power plants long before that happens.
Sorry...Arizona gets first pick. ;o)
Why would Arnaold sign this bill and then travel to other states to try to lure business to CA?
The same reason other liberals champion the slaughter of unborn babies, but decry the death penalty and eating meat because "life is sacred."
Sending illegals home would do more good. All I can say about Arnold now is I am glad he cannot run for president.
That so?
The bill will position the nation's most populous state in the forefront of the national debate over climate change while handing Schwarzenegger a key environmental victory to take on the campaign trail this fall for his re-election.
Key enviromental victory for him to take on the campaign trail? Note to Arnold: You blew it.
Democrats and about a dozen Schwarzenegger administration officials spent weeks seeking compromise over legislation that they hope will serve as a national model in the absence of federal regulations.
Oh, I agree there. It will defenitely serve as a national model....of failure.
Schwarzenfrankenkennedy is slowly but surely driving this Californian out of the state.
California will be dragged down by Northwestern Mexico simultaneously with Texas and Northeastern Mexico rising on the same tide.
Michigan is now advertizing to lure California businesses .... MICHIGAN!
(No more Olmert! No more Kadima! No more Oslo! )
What a dimwit!
(No more Olmert! No more Kadima! No more Oslo! )
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