CALIFORNIA: State scrambles to fund global warming fight

San Francisco Chronicle ^ | 3/4/8 | Matthew Yi, Chronicle

[SmithL]

California's landmark legislation to fight global warming has been on the books for more than a year, but it still lacks stable, long-term funding to help meet its ambitious goal to limit greenhouse gas emissions.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's latest budget proposal calls for a stopgap, two-year effort that relies on borrowing money from a state beverage container recycling fund to run the program.

On Monday, members of a joint legislative committee raised questions about funding for AB32, the high-profile measure that seeks to cut the state's carbon emissions by about a third by 2020.

"Borrowing from (the recycling fund) ... perpetuates a pattern of the state solving its financial problems by borrowing and moving money around," said Assemblywoman Loni Hancock, D-Berkeley, who co-chaired the hearing by the Assembly Committee on Natural Resources and the Senate Alternative Energy subcommittee.

The measure has received international acclaim and has given Schwarzenegger political capital around the world for signing it into law in 2006. It probably will require sweeping changes in what vehicles Californians drive, what fuels they pump and how energy and manufacturing plants operate in the state.

While passing AB32 was a major coup for Schwarzenegger and the Democrats who backed it, figuring out how to meet the measure's goals remains a daunting task.

[SmithL]

Just impose a Hoax-Fund fee on everyone in the State.

[edcoil]

Arnold is the hoax - will it fund getting rid of him?

[Steely Tom]

Just raise taxes. California people love paying taxes.

[Godzilla]

Step 1. Turn legislature into a part-time operation
Step 2. Revoke all state vehicle privilages for said legislators
Step 3. Mandate state legislators use public transit to and from capitol.
Step 4. Reduce pay of legislators 25% and use that to pay for their bus pass
Step 5. As leaders of this state, any global warming fee they try to impose upon us goes triple for them with no exemption.

[PeterPrinciple]

Peter Principle in Action Award.........they are way past their level of competence and are trying to appear competent in something that has NOTHING to do with their reason for existing.

[Piquaboy]

I hear that the guy who gave us the weather channel is suing Al Gore for this carbon credit scam claiming it is fraud.

[Right Cal Gal]

All I know is that I’m going to max out my Home Depot credit card stocking up on incandescent light bulbs and keep them in a safe dry place until I need them.

[SmithL]

Just raise taxes. California people love paying taxes.

Nope, they can't raise taxes without Republican cooperation. Fees, on the other hand, only require a simple majority vote.

[Gumdrop]

If the people in California are worried about global warming, they could just come north to Minnesota or Maine or Ohio or Wisconsin - and cool off a bit.

[EnigmaticAnomaly]

"CALIFORNIA: State scrambles to fund global warming fight"

Correction: Kalifornia: State scrambles to throw money at junk science religion.

[IMissPresidentReagan]

So glad I live in the South. Kentucky may have a Democrat governor, but even he wouldn’t support something a crazy as this.

[calcowgirl]

On the potential signing of AB 32:

"Vetoing it in an election year, in a state like CA, where a large number
of voters consider environmental issues important, would be handing
a weapons to Angelides and Arnols is thankfully smarter than that. "

FairOpinion, 08/05/2006

FR Troll propaganda. A wondrous thing.

I can't wait to hear the same thing about McCain's "Climate Stewardship Act."

[edcoil]

We have had one of the coldest, wettest winters I can remember in the 1970’s here. We are actually very tired of it and want it to warm up

[gridlock]

How much money is it worth to make the Governor feel good. Wouldn’t it be cheaper just to hire hookers or something?

[Fiji Hill]

Step 1. Turn legislature into a part-time operation

California had a part-time legislature until the mid-1960's when it became full-time, thanks in large part to the efforts of Assemblyman Houston Flournoy (R-Pomona), a liberal transplanted New Yorker. Flournoy proudly took credit for this move, which has turned out to be one of the worst things that ever happened in California politics.

In 1974, Flournoy tried to succeed Ronald Reagan as governor, but lost to Jerry Brown.

[jack308]

"All I know is that I’m going to max out my Home Depot credit card stocking up on incandescent light bulbs and keep them in a safe dry place until I need them." I had the same idea about Freon back in the early nineties but I never followed through. I could have made 30 X in a decade.

[TenthAmendmentChampion]

Step 6. Require all state-owned buildings to use strictly wind and solar power. No hydro, nuclear or coal-fired electricity allowed for heat or cooling. (Know how hot it gets in Sacramento in the summer? Up to and over 100 degrees!)
Step 7. Require all public transportation to use either CNG, propane or solar power/wind power/geothermal power electricity ONLY.
Step 8. Buy popcorn...

[goldstategop]

The goals are impossible to meet without damaging California's economy and as the law's proponents have discovered, its impossible to acquire a stable funding source to implement it.

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus

[TenthAmendmentChampion]

GW ping

[Right Cal Gal]

My personal favorite dumba** program was the special permit that allowed the drivers of “hybird/clean air” cars to drive in the car pool lane. They distributed 75,000 of these (I believe there was a small fee involved).

Excuse me? If these are the cars supposedly causing LESS pollution, wouldn’t it make sense to have them in the standard lanes? Plus the fact that the average person can’t afford a hybrid car, since the hybrid model is several thousand dollars more.