Posted on 04/10/2006 10:02:38 AM PDT by NormsRevenge
SACRAMENTO – In Michigan, where automakers still reign, the Rev. Charles Morris cites Scripture and California policy as he campaigns for curbs on tailpipe and smokestack emissions linked to disruptions in global weather patterns that can threaten water, power and food supplies.
“California is the leader of the pack,” says the Catholic priest who tends a parish in Wyandotte, just outside Dearborn.
“They put in emission reductions. They put in reformulated gas,” Morris said. “The sky didn't fall. The sun still shines. It belies the myths put out there.”
Religious leaders such as Morris – joining a growing number of environmentalists and politicians nationwide – say they have been energized by aggressive policies emerging from California and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
“There are people in many other states who are cheering us,” said Bill Reilly, the San Francisco-based chairman of the World Wildlife Fund and administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency under former President Bush.
Schwarzenegger has announced that he will use his clout to push legislation that would sharply curtail carbon dioxide emissions from power plants, refineries and other industries. Scientists link carbon dioxide to global warming.
“We know the science, we see the threat and the time for action is now,” Schwarzenegger said at a news conference Tuesday. “The federal government has so far fallen short with showing leadership when it comes to the environment.”
The Republican governor's agenda represents a sharp split from President Bush, who opposes mandatory regulations on emissions. The Bush administration and others argue that conducting more research and pursuing alternative energy sources are the best ways to address global warming.
The Democratic-controlled Legislature is moving ahead with several tough proposals. The centerpiece, in Assembly Bill 32, would force industry to scale back emissions to 1990 levels by 2020.
More controversial are measures for a nickel-a-gallon gas tax to finance development of alternative energy sources. Separate legislation would impose an emissions surcharge on large trucks and sport utility vehicles to provide tax breaks for buying cleaner cars.
Schwarzenegger wants a package on his desk by summer's end.
But some scientists and businesses advise caution. If California reaches too far, industry could relocate to less-demanding states or countries. That would reverse any gains in California, they warn.
“What California does could be sacrificial for no purpose,” said Dorothy Rothrock of the influential California Manufacturers and Technology Association.
“The net gain would be nothing,” argued Andy O'Hare, vice president of a Washington, D.C.-based coalition of 30 cement makers.
It's not just industry representatives who question whether one state can accomplish much.
Economic growth in China is expected to make that country the world's largest producer of greenhouse gas emissions by midcentury – eclipsing cuts made by the Unites States and other industrialized countries.
“We can decide to go to zero and there still could be no net improvement,” said Walter Oechel, a climate researcher at San Diego State University.
Unfazed, Schwarzenegger said he plans to use his – and California's – influence to push the agenda nationally. The governor has called a summit for tomorrow in San Francisco to explore strategies and mobilize. He also plans to ask Western governors to join the campaign when they meet in June.
Nationally, dozens of religious leaders have formed coalitions in 18 states to lobby legislatures and Congress.
“We had to put our faith into action,” said the Rev. Sally Bingham, an Episcopalian priest at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco.
Morris said his church started with solar power and other energy savings. But he felt a calling to do more.
“We are a part of, not apart from, all creation,” he said. “Global warming scares the bejeebers out of me.”
Industry is scared too, but less of global warming than of the state acting independently and overzealously.
“It's goodbye concrete production,” if California regulations push costs much higher, O'Hare said.
Industry fears of being unable to contain a Schwarzenegger-inspired movement may be well-founded. Ten states have adopted versions of California's 2003 landmark legislation on vehicle emissions standards targeting carbon dioxide. Maryland's Republican governor on Thursday signed legislation calling on the state to reduce its emissions by 10 percent by 2019.
“California is a trendsetter ... It will be copied,” said Reilly, the former EPA administrator.
However, the Bush administration continues to align with industry, particularly automakers who have challenged California's right to impose tougher tailpipe standards. The administration has also balked at signing the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, an international effort to curb global warming.
But the governor's top advisers, who just issued a comprehensive report calling for stepped-up efforts, say global warming is a threat to the economy and the environment.
Among warnings they sounded:
Sierra snowpack – the source of much of California's water supply – is gradually declining, although record storms have buried mountains this spring.
Shifts in weather patterns are disrupting crop production.
In forests, drier years invite catastrophic fires and spread devastating pests.
Unseasonable and erratic storms could bring devastating floods.
“It gives you a sobering assessment of why this is one of the defining issues of our time,” said Terry Tamminen, the governor's chief environmental adviser.
Where some businesses see a threat, Bob Epstein sees opportunity. A founder of Environmental Entrepreneurs, a coalition of high-tech and venture capital concerns in 22 states, Epstein said a legislative commitment would spur more investment in alternative energy.
“It will accelerate new business in California,” said Epstein, based in Berkeley.
Bowing to complaints raised by industry, Schwarzenegger immediately rejected the most contentious recommendation from his advisers – and some Democrats – to explore a gas tax or fee on goods movement.
“You see what's happening with the gasoline price. It's going up all the time,” Schwarzenegger said. “People are suffering because of it, so why would we now slap on top of that a tax to make it even more expensive?”
However, the governor may not have the final say. A proposed ballot measure now being circulated for November would tax oil companies $4 billion to finance broad introduction of alternatives to fossil fuels.
Schwarzenegger's proposals, produced by an appointed Climate Action Team, include economic carrots to encourage industries to shift to renewable energy.
Among those:
A market-based system that would allow buying, selling or trading pollution credits. Growing industries could secure compliance with pollution regulations while providing other companies with capital.
A requirement that power generators invest more in renewable resources. Out-of-state generators also would have to comply to sell power in California.
Farmers would be provided incentives to replace sooty diesel engines and curb their use of pesticides. Alternative-fuel vehicles also would be promoted.
The governor's team is convinced emissions can be cut without pinning industry to numerical limits. However, some lawmakers want more aggressive regulation.
“You have to set a cap so you mean what you say. You have to send a signal to the marketplace,” said Assemblywoman Fran Pavley, D-Agoura Hills, an architect of California's historic legislation imposing new emission controls on automakers to slow global warming.
Scientists have called the state's goals an important step.
“California is just an increment of the global emissions, so we shouldn't overstate what the state will be able to do on its own,” said Dan Cayan, a climate expert at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography who helped write the report for the governor.
“But .... . by taking seriously this issue with either regulatory or creative economic strategies, this is an important statement for not only the national community but the international community,” he said.
Daniel Sarewitz, a professor of science and society at Arizona State University, said it's important for policymakers to look beyond the debate over the Kyoto Protocol.
Instead, Sarewitz said, leaders must understand and address why society has become so vulnerable to climatic disruptions. He cited examples of building in hurricane regions and allocating large amounts of scarce water to farmland in the arid San Joaquin Valley.
He's also skeptical that curbs on fossil fuels will have significant immediate benefits because so much of the world's economy depends on burning oil and coal. Carbon stays in the atmosphere for “hundreds of years,” he said.
“There is no foreseeable path to decarbonization that will have an impact on society's vulnerability to climate changes over the next half century,” Sarewitz said.
But Epstein, the entrepreneur, said obstacles can be overcome in this era of technological revolution.
“Everybody loses if we do nothing,” he said.
In other news wasn't California just named as one of the most polluted states?
They have MTBE in their ground water, a well know cancer causing chemical the US & CA EPA knew would end up in the H2O BEFORE they approved it for use in gasoline. They sky won't fall but you can't drink the water.
These people are really ticking me off! Epstein and his vulture capitalist cohorts at Kleiner Perkins, along with NRDC (Epstein is a trustee), now have the ear of both Schwarzenegger and Angelides to force junk science down our throats and throw OUR tax dollars to their Green ventures. Epstein and John Doerr were at Angelides' side in pushing for "Green Investing" by CalSTRS and CalPERS and now they want billions more. Where the hell is the GOP in refuting this nonsense?
Where the hell is the GOP in refuting this nonsense?
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I'm sure they'll be by shortly to defend the Gubby as a better choice than a skunk... when they all smell to high heaven.
And today they announce another state of "emergency" and that people and property are in "extreme peril."
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2006/04/10/BAemergency10.DTL
We're in peril because the whackos in Sacramento are on a path of destruction due to ignorance, corruption and mismanagement!
Corporations and Conservation Groups Commend Governor Schwarzenegger for Climate Leadership
Monday April 10, 4:20 pm ET
SAN FRANCISCO, April 10 /PRNewswire/ -- Gov. Schwarzenegger will participate in California's first Climate Action Summit tomorrow in San Francisco. The event comes on the heels of the California Climate Action Team's final report to the governor last week.
The attached is a joint letter from corporations and conservation groups commending the governor for his leadership in addressing the problem of global warming.
April 6, 2006
The Honorable Arnold Schwarzenegger
Governor, State of California
State Capitol
Sacramento, CA 95814Re: Climate Action Team Report
Dear Governor Schwarzenegger,
We write on behalf of diverse institutions to express our continued support for your leadership in addressing climate change. We were pleased to see the release of your Climate Action Team's (CAT) final report recently. We appreciated the opportunity to provide comments as the report was being drafted. Although we do not necessarily agree with all of the CAT report's recommendations, we commend the Climate Action Team for producing a generally constructive and comprehensive report.
In particular, we applaud the CAT report's strong emphasis on investments in cost-effective energy and water efficiency and in cleaner energy technologies and resources. In addition, we agree that a rigorous and comprehensive system for reporting greenhouse gas emissions is necessary to enable the state to track its success at meeting the targets. We strongly support using the California Climate Action Registry protocols for this program. We also support the CAT's efforts to continue with the economic analysis of the proposed measures in the Report. Finally, we support the report's recommendations to provide credit to businesses that take early action to reduce emissions, and to coordinate state investments in programs that reduce greenhouse gas emissions. And we commend your efforts to enhance interagency coordination on climate change policy in California.
In closing, it is essential that the economic, job, and environmental benefits for Californians be maximized, and any economic disadvantages be minimized, in meeting your greenhouse gas reduction goals. We look forward to continuing to work with you, the Climate Action Team and California's legislature and regulatory bodies to realize your goal of making California a leader in addressing climate change.
Sincerely,
Denise Michelson Karen Douglas BP Environmental Defense
Devra Wang Wendy Pulling Natural Resources Defense Council Pacific Gas & Electric Company
Margaret Bruce Jason Mark Silicon Valley Leadership Group Union of Concerned Scientists
Where are all the Gubby's FR cheerleaders?
He's so cutting edge, yaknow.
They should be extolling his courage for sticking it out there Global Warming-wise.
I just realized the other day that McCain is part of the national cheerleading group for a "market based" global warming solution (cap-and-trade program) similar to what Arnie is supporting. Here is one that he authored (with his buddies John Kerry, Patty Murray, Olympia Snowe, Lincoln Chaffee, Jim Jeffords, et al as co-sponsors)
S.342
Title: A bill to provide for a program of scientific research on abrupt climate change, to accelerate the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States by establishing a market-driven system of greenhouse gas tradeable allowances, to limit greenhouse gas emissions in the United States and reduce dependence upon foreign oil, and ensure benefits to consumers from the trading in such allowances.
Sponsor: Sen McCain, John [AZ] (introduced 2/10/2005) Cosponsors (15)
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McCain joined with Obama on another global warming bill, S.1151
Returning to reality, California really has the dirtiest air of any state in the country. (Their topography, wind patterns, rainless summers, and deep winter valley inversions don't help, and neither do their 33 million people.) California may lead in intense environmental regulations, but they're still dirtier than Houston and New York.
(Denny Crane: "I Don't Want To Socialize With A Pinko Liberal Democrat Commie. Say What You Like About Republicans. We Stick To Our Convictions. Even When We Know We're Dead Wrong.")
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