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As this page has long noted, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s goal of being revered as a global green giant has a potentially huge downside for California’s economy. The governor considers AB 32 – the landmark 2006 anti-global warming state law that forces increased use of cleaner but costlier forms of energy – his greatest achievement. But ever since the bill’s adoption, Schwarzenegger has found it increasingly difficult to reconcile his claims to support economic growth with his environmental policies, which add unique costs to California businesses not borne by their rivals in other states and nations. His cheerleading for ever-more-onerous regulations...

California: While Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger worries about rising seas, his state sinks below the waves. Don't mess with Texas, they say. But California and the nation could follow its lead. Last Wednesday, Gov. Schwarzenegger released a new report based on research compiled by the California Energy Commission claiming that by 2100 San Francisco Bay would be more bay than San Francisco, with Fisherman's Wharf and Treasure Island under the rising waters of climate change. His show-and-tell, which included a new Google Earth application the commission spent $150,000 to help develop, goes a long way toward explaining the once-Golden State's slide...

Leadership: Alaska's ex-governor asks a question we'd like answered: Why is California's current governor pushing the same policies in Copenhagen that helped drive his state into record deficits and unemployment? The movie series that made Arnold Schwarzenegger a household name involved cyborgs traveling through time to alternately try to destroy or save one John Connor, who would grow up to be the leader of the resistance against a race of machines that ruled the planet. Prominent in the series was his tough cookie of a mom, Sarah Connor. Another Sarah has taken the lead in another resistance against another group...

As the United Nations Climate Change Conference enters its second week in Copenhagen, California will send a delegation to showcase the state’s own climate change policies. Since his election to office in 2003, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has made global warming and climate change a cornerstone of his gubernatorial legacy. When he addresses conference delegates this week, Schwarzenegger will boast that under his watch the state has implemented some of the strictest and most comprehensive environmental regulations in the world. But delegates won’t be presented with the true cost of Schwarzenegger’s war on global warming. Californians know better than anyone else...

COPENHAGEN (CBS 5 / AP) ― California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger says world policymakers do not have to choose between a clean environment and economic growth. .. "we've proved that over and over again in California." .. he thinks world leaders may be risking setback by pushing so aggressively for an accommodation on curbs to heat-trapping emissions. .. people worried about climate change should pay more attention to companies, universities and "ordinary folks" and not put so much emphasis on a multinational consensus. He said that type of thinking is "setting yourself up for failure." .. poor nations have a right...

Snow continues to fall in the foothills and Sierra Nevada, even dusting valley communities, but the weather system will continue moving southeast, leaving the Sacramento region later today. Places such as Roseville, El Dorado Hills and even Galt got various amounts of snow, while it has piled up at higher elevations. .... "We actually had some (snow) here at the weather office at Watt and El Camino," said National Weather Service meteorologist Angus Barkhuff. "This is certainly an unusually cold weather system for California. It's not often we get to see some snowflakes here in the Sacramento area."

A local academic has emerged as the leading source of dark forecasts in a recession-fueled debate over whether California's war on global warming will hurt or help its economy. Sanjay Varshney, dean of the business school at California State University, Sacramento, predicts dire consequences if the state moves forward with plans to cut greenhouse gas emissions. His figures – dismissed by some economists – have been cited by business groups and politicians calling on the state to delay carrying out AB 32, the state's landmark climate change law. In a July paper paid for by the California Small Business Roundtable,...

Al Gore attacks Chuck DeVore for Barbara Boxer! A friend of our campaign just forwarded a remarkable email to us. It was from Al Gore. The email from the former Vice President was a financial appeal to Barbara Boxer’s supporters. Al Gore says this about Chuck DeVore: “Assemblyman Chuck DeVore, is already campaigning hard across California. He voted against AB 32, the landmark global warming legislation…” Al Gore is right, Chuck DeVore voted against AB 32 – and debated against it – and fought tooth and nail against its implementation every step of the way. Because, unlike Al Gore, Chuck...

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - California is planning the next stage of clean car standards even as U.S. President Barack Obama announces federal plans based on the state's model, its top climate change official said on Tuesday. Obama on Tuesday set 2016 mileage and carbon emissions goals for U.S. fleets, which will be codified by the federal Department of Transportation and the Environmental Protection Agency. "California will be immediately getting to work on what the standards should be for beyond 2016," Mary Nichols, who chairs the California Air Resources Board, said in a telephone interview. She expects "a much more stringent...

SACRAMENTO -- In a last-minute twist, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will miss his own special election in his state on Tuesday. Schwarzenegger flew to Washington Monday night to appear Tuesday morning with President Barack Obama and other leaders to announce a change in the nation's automobile emission rules. "Gov. Schwarzenegger has been leading the fight for California and 13 other state to regulate vehicle emissions," said gubernatorial spokesman Aaron McLear. "(The) historic announcement will include a three-party agreement between California, the Obama administration and the automakers that not only allows California to regulate our emissions but also establishes a national...

In a last-minute twist, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will miss his own special election. The governor instead will appear Tuesday in Washington, D.C., with President Barack Obama and other leaders to announce a change in automobile emissions rules, said Schwarzenegger press secretary Aaron McLear. The governor will remain in Washington, D.C., this week to meet with congressional members and Obama officials "regarding the drastic cuts proposed in his May budget revision," McLear said. Schwarzenegger needs a federal waiver and congressional action to cut as much as $750 million in Medi-Cal.

SACRAMENTO – Call it overhead. The state Air Resources Board plans to collect more fees from industries responsible for large amounts of greenhouse gases to recoup the administrative costs of implementing California's landmark climate change law. The proposed $50 million in annual assessments would nick Californians for about $1.50 a year after the costs are passed down, regulators estimate. The climate change program has been partly living on borrowed money for some time, tapping various state accounts to pay for 155 positions within the air board and for about 20 others assigned to different agencies. The additional staff, which includes...

California's Air Resources Board on Thursday approved a first-in-the-world regulation to minimize the amount of carbon in fuel, putting California on the cutting edge of promoting alternative fuels in a bid to combat global warming. The regulation will require fuel manufacturers to cut the so-called carbon intensity of fuels sold in the state 10 percent by 2020 - lowering the amount of greenhouse gases released for every unit of energy produced. "Now, finally, we are creating the opportunity for other types of transportation fuels to compete on a level playing field," Nichols said. Manufacturers can meet the standard by selling...

PRESIDENT OBAMA’S PROPOSED FEDERAL SPENDING WILL TOP $4 TRILLION this year, about 29 percent of GDP-exceeded only by spending during World War II. Then there are the Administration’s plans to add $1.9 trillion in new taxes. This heady sum can hardly come from just the so-called rich as he claims. In addition, the cap-and-trade carbon tax will demand another $648 billion and will hit anyone who consumes energy, which means everyone. The President tells us that the higher taxes and enormous public spending are necessary to pay for recovery and deficit reduction. One needn’t look too far to see how...

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa announced a partnership Wednesday with three local universities aimed at positioning the city to compete for hundreds of thousands of federal dollars for clean technology research and a proposed state institute to study climate change. The partnership with Caltech, UCLA and USC is part of the agenda Villaraigosa outlined in his State of the City speech Tuesday to lure and retain companies that focus on green endeavors such as solar, wind, battery and hydrogen fuel cell technologies. Villaraigosa said the CleanTech LA alliance, which also includes the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce, Los Angeles Business...

Climate change may cost California tens of billions of dollars annually in coming years as sea levels rise and hot days cause people to turn up the air conditioning, a draft report from the state said on Wednesday. Thirsty cities may be able to buy water from farmers and high-altitude forests are expected to benefit for most of the century as trees enjoy the warmer weather, but a long-term effort to understand the details of climate change suggests costs will be higher than expected. Much depends on whether global efforts to slow the Earth's heating are successful. "Climate change will...

Ambrose Bierce in The Devil's Dictionary satirically defined electricity as the power that causes all natural phenomena not known to be caused by something else. This definition seems apt for California Assembly Bill 32 (AB 32), also known as the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006. AB 32, which mandates shifting to much costlier forms of green energy, is not about Global Warming or Green Power at all. It would not have a chance of success in greenie California without its environmental mythology. What AB 32 is all about is passing along the costs of cleaning the air in California...

. The author of California’s landmark law to curb greenhouse gas emissions has launched a two-year effort to expand the law’s reach into other operations, including logging, and shape the market place governing potentially billions of dollars worth of emissions credits. As the Legislature turns its focus from the state budget to legislation, dozens of ambitious new environmental proposals are emerging. But a bill by Sen. Fran Pavley, D-Agoura Hills, could be among the biggest pieces of environmental legislation this year. Pavley is best known as the author of AB 32, California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006. Pavley, who...

For more than two years, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Democratic lawmakers have been stuck in a self-congratulatory mode over the enactment of AB 32 and other laws meant to put California in the forefront of efforts to address global warming. Now that these laws are being implemented, it's plain congratulations aren't merited. Few states and nations have copied California's bold approach, validating our view that climate change is a global problem that requires a coordinated international approach. Instead, the chief result of our go-it-alone strategy will be to saddle our economy with unique burdens that will drive unemployment up and...

Calif. tire rule aims to pump up fuel efficiency By DON THOMPSON Associated Press Writer SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- California officials have decided to require auto repair shops to check tire pressure, a move they say will save millions of gallons of gasoline. The state Air Resources Board on Thursday adopted a resolution requiring repair shops to check tire pressure whenever they perform maintenance, oil changes and smog tests, beginning in July 2010. Regulators hope the idea spreads to other states. The U.S. Department of Energy has estimated that proper tire inflation can boost gas mileage by about 3.3 percent. President...

When times are tough and money is scarce, it is the duty of locally elected leaders to ask tough questions about government programs. No program should be exempt from this scrutiny, including Assembly Bill 32 (the Global Warming Solutions Act), which is one of the largest regulatory schemes ever approved by the state of California. AB 32 will impact every citizen directly in the form of higher prices for gasoline and increased utility costs. Virtually every product and service we purchase will be impacted as businesses pass along their increased costs to consumers. With many scientists believing that the release...

SACRAMENTO — Even during this deep recession, California's air-quality regulators are on an accelerated schedule to adopt a series of global warming initiatives considered unmatched worldwide. Their aggressive push to reduce greenhouse gas emissions linked to global warming will eventually touch everyday life in both small and significant ways. Just Thursday, the state Air Resources Board moved to regulate fluorinated gases commonly used by the Silicon Valley-centered semiconductor industry to make chips used in cell phones and computers. A few weeks earlier, do-it-yourself mechanics were the target. Regulators adopted tighter rules on small cans of refrigerants that recharge vehicle air...

The California budget deficit could go away easily if liberals removed some of its unnecessary environmental regulations. California holds deposits of many resources including oil and gas that could be leased to companies for over 50 billion dollars. Unfortunately, the elite are blocking those efforts with shrieks of global warming and the fear of more people using cars and depending less of public transit, not to mention fears of oil spills and all this mumbo jumbo about animal rights. (Which take precedent over the rights of human beings every time, especially if they are not yet born.) Rich liberals and...

"But to truly transform our economy, protect our security and save our planet from the ravages of climate change, we need to ultimately make clean, renewable energy the profitable kind of energy. So I ask this Congress to send me legislation that places a market-based cap on carbon pollution and drives the production of more renewable energy in America." --President Obama in his address to Congress 2/24/09 This echoes his pledge to Canada last week and it should be noted that the Department of Energy estimates "cap and trade" will cost up to $1 Trillion and up to $4 Million...

1:58 AM PST Reporting from Sacramento -- Aiming to end a three-month impassse, the California Senate prepared to vote early this morning on a deal Democrats and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger reached with a GOP holdout to resolve the state's fiscal emergency. Under the deal, Sen. Abel Maldonado of Santa Maria agreed to provide the final Republican vote needed to pass a spending plan with billions of dollars in tax hikes. In exchange, Democrats would rewrite election rules that Maldonado says are stacked against moderates like himself. (snip) Throughout the day, negotiators stayed focused on Maldonado and GOP Sen. Dave Cox...

JANUARY 31, 2009 California's 'Green Jobs' Experiment Isn't Going Well By STEPHEN MOORE Los Angeles Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger was all smiles in 2006 when he signed into law the toughest anti-global-warming regulations of any state. Mr. Schwarzenegger and his green supporters boasted that the regulations would steer California into a prosperous era of green jobs, renewable energy, and technological leadership. Instead, since 2007 -- in anticipation of the new mandates -- California has led the nation in job losses. The regulations created a cap-and-trade system, similar to proposed federal global-warming measures, by limiting the CO2 that utilities, trucking companies and...

Al Gore’s campaign against global warming is shifting into high gear. Reporters and commentators follow his every move and bombard the public with notice of his activities and opinions. But while the mainstream media promote his ideas about the state of planet Earth, they are mostly silent about the dramatic impact his economic proposals would have on America. And journalists routinely ignore evidence that he may personally benefit from his programs. Would the romance fizzle if Gore’s followers realized how much their man stands to gain? Earlier this year Gore experienced a notable public relations debacle. The Tennessee Center for...

SACRAMENTO — While praising President Barack Obama's moves to allow California to impose tighter controls on tailpipe emissions, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger now finds himself under pressure from fellow Republicans demanding that he weaken the state's broader greenhouse-gas laws as part of any deal to solve the budget crisis. The possibility of compromising the state's landmark standards to curb global warming has environmentalists fuming. They also worry that Democrats will be forced to trade environmental safeguards for GOP concessions on raising revenue. “This is fiscal blackmail,” said Bill Magavern, state director of the Sierra Club. “They know they could never achieve...

Even before Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, California staked its claim as an environmental darling. No regulation seemed beyond reach of the Golden State in search of a green legacy. The state's environmental regulations already compounded U.S. EPA requirements. Faddish alternative-energy mandates were imposed for years, to the envy of environmentalists elsewhere. Then the governor proudly pushed the so-called Global Warming Solution Act in 2006, raising the bar further with unparalleled environmental mandates. Alas, reality is catching up. Gov. Schwarzenegger must be uncomfortable now, calling for waivers of environmental review for 10 huge highway projects he says are urgently needed to stimulate...

The California Air Resources Board approval last week of top-down micromanagement of industries and commerce, ostensibly to rid California of global warming, is a broad intrusion into the private sector that not only will be costly, but ultimately a solution for a problem whose dimensions have been defined more by politics than science and probably doesn't even exist. The ARB's "scoping plan" details the regulations and costs to be imposed on nearly every facet of California economic life to implement 2006's presumptuously named "Global Warming Solutions Act." It's the last thing a struggling economy needs, and the last thing a...

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – California on Friday became the first state in the country to force big diesel trucks to clean up their exhaust, despite warnings from truckers the new rules will force them out of business. About a million vehicles, from big rigs to school buses, are affected by the new rules, which will begin taking effect in 2011 and do not require further ratification. Some vehicles will have to start retrofitting engines in 2011 and some older trucks will be forced into retirement starting in 2012. By 2023, all trucks must meet 2010 new engine emission standards. The...

The California Air Resources Board has unanimously adopted the nation’s most sweeping plan to slash greenhouse gas emissions. The bold move by the world’s eighth-largest economy would cut the state’s emissions by 15% over the next 12 years. It lays out targets for virtually every sector of the economy, from electrical plants and automobiles to landfills and city planning. And it amounts to an average cut of four tons of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases for every person in the state. The blueprint, which would be implemented over the next two years, puts California at the forefront of national...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- California's utilities, refineries and large factories must transform their operations to cut greenhouse gas emissions as part of a new climate plan before state regulators. On Thursday, the California Air Resources Board was expected to adopt what would be the nation's most sweeping global warming plan, outlining for the first time how individuals and businesses would meet a landmark 2006 law that made the state a leader on global climate change. It would hold California's worst polluters accountable for the heat-trapping emissions they produce _ transforming how people travel, utilities generate power and businesses use electricity. At...

SACRAMENTO - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the chairwoman of the state Air Resources Board both signaled Wednesday that regulators will approve a landmark plan to combat global warming, even though a vote has yet to be cast. The air board takes up the plan, which is contested by key business groups and some economists, Thursday. Asked why the state should push ahead during a recession, Schwarzenegger said: "Well, first of all, let me just say that I recommend very strongly that we move forward, because it doesn't make any sense that we are looking at our health and destroying our...

One of the shabbiest, least satisfying public policy debates in modern California political history is expected to wrap up today in Sacramento with the California Air Resources Board adopting its “Scoping Plan” for the implementation of AB 32. That's the landmark 2006 state law requiring a sharp increase in the use of cleaner but more costly sources of energy to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions contributing to global warming. It is inevitable that the law will have negative economic consequences, given that California businesses will have higher costs than rival firms in other states and nations without such an edict,...

The black soot that big rig trucks belch from their chugging diesel engines may soon become a thing of the past. In one of the more far-reaching smog regulations that California has ever proposed, state air regulators are considering a first-in-the-nation plan that would require nearly every privately owned, heavy diesel truck in the state to install a filter that would reduce emissions of soot from their rigs by 85 percent. The new regulation would affect 1 million truckers, half of them registered out of state who regularly drive on California freeways. If approved by the California Air Resources Board...

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger told UN delegates locked in climate talks on Monday that the world economic crisis should not slow down the fight against global warming. "There are some people who say that we can't afford the fight against global warming while our economies are down, but the exact opposite is true," he told some 10,000 delegates in Poznan, Poland in a video message. "The green rules and regulations that will help save our planet will also revive our economies," he said. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is charged with hammering out for a new...

On Friday, the California Air Resources Board will decide whether to adopt its “scoping plan” for the implementation of AB 32, the 2006 anti-global warming law. It requires state energy suppliers to use far more power from cleaner but more costly sources. Given that this would impose unique burdens on California businesses, many observers (including this editorial page) have been skeptical and said a national or international approach to global warming makes more sense. The response from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has been that the opposite is true: Far from burdening the economy, the forced transition to new sources of power...

Many California planning and environmental groups are heralding the passage of legislation designed to address global warming by curbing suburban sprawl as a watershed moment, perhaps the state's most important land-use law in more than 30 years. "It's a sea change in the way we're planning and funding growth and development," said Stephanie Reyes, senior policy advocate with San Francisco's Greenbelt Alliance. "The winds are shifting, and this is the time to get on board." But she and other advocates acknowledge that the importance of SB375, signed into law by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in late September, lies as much in...

As the owner of a small dump truck business based in Dixon, I was trying to do my part to clean the air we all breathe by replacing my outdated truck with a cleaner model. Because the California Air Resources Board (ARB) is set to vote on a new regulation this December targeting diesel vehicles I wanted to be one step ahead. The proposed rule would impact the almost 1 million trucks and buses used to transport goods and people on California’s roads, highways and farms - including my dump trucks. Starting in 2010, this proposal would require every diesel...

With the California Air Resources Board poised to adopt a new rule to cut diesel truck pollution next week, local trucking companies Wednesday highlighted the economic burden it would impose on local businesses and an industry already feeling the squeeze from high fuel costs and the recession. The rule would require truck owners to install pollution controls starting in 2010 and buy newer, cleaner trucks beginning in 2012. It is estimated to cost trucking companies $5 billion over the next decade. Truck owners say the costs are too high to absorb in the short amount of time they have to...

Shaping Economic Analysis to Suit Climate Politics By Roger Pielke Jr., Prometheus TodayÂ’s ClimateWire reports that CaliforniaÂ’s proposed climate policy - known by its bill number as AB32 - has been soundly criticized by a distinguished panel of six internationally recognized economists with expertise in carbon policies: California intentionally skewed its analysis of the economic effects of its climate change plan, according to a review by state-commissioned economists. All six economists found the analysis deeply flawed, and several even said the state hand-picked data to improve the economic case for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Wow. When policy makers and experts...

For more than two years, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, leading California Democrats and environmentalists have insisted that AB 32 – a 2006 law requiring California businesses and residents to use cleaner but far more costly sources of energy by 2020 – would actually prove to be an economic bonanza. They asserted it would position the state to lead the world in green technology and reduce societal costs stemming from air pollution. This claim falls apart under the slightest inspection. Sure, some well-positioned industries might thrive. But how could sharply increasing the operating costs of most businesses and reducing the disposable income...

SACRAMENTO — SACRAMENTO – A draft blueprint to stem global warming counts on businesses and everyday Californians to accept a mix of tough regulations and new fees, perhaps as much as $1.5 billion a year collected on targeted products and water bills. The state Air Resources Board spent yesterday drawing praise and protest for its groundbreaking initiative to reduce greenhouse gas emissions linked to global warming. Regulators now will refine the plan before they gather next month for a final vote on the blueprint, which would require a gradual rollback in emissions to 1990 levels by the year 2020, an...

Three US governors join forces with Indonesia and Brazil to keep carbon locked up in endangered tropical forests Though it didn't seems to make an enormous splash in the press, the deal reached this week between three US states, Indonesia and Brazil seems like a fairly big deal in terms of rainforest protection. The agreement was brokered at the climate summit convened by California's ecosavvy governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger. Along with fellow governors from Illinois and Wisconsin, Schwarzenegger signed an agreement that could see carbon credits earned from forest protection in Indonesia or Brazil incorporated into US emissions trading schemes. Partly,...

Sacramento -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed an executive order Friday directing state agencies to study the effects of global warming and recommend how the state needs to adapt to such changes in land use planning and building new infrastructure. "Given the serious threat of sea level rise to California's water supply, population and our economy, it's critically important that we make sure the state is prepared," Schwarzenegger said in a written statement. The executive order was signed after a conference Friday in Long Beach on global warming and water infrastructure that was sponsored in part by the state Department of...

Governors' Global Climate Summit Dear friend of the Institute: Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has invited an influential group of national and world leaders to address climate change at a summit in Beverly Hills. The Governors’ Global Climate Summit will take place on November 18 and 19 at The Beverly Hilton. Governors from across the nation will join Schwarzenegger and international officials to discuss a blueprint for a new global agreement on climate change solutions. The governor has asked us to forward this information to friends of the Institute, and we are happy to do so. You are invited to watch the...

Priorities: California is headed toward fiscal disaster, thanks to the worst performance by any state, ever. So what does Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger do? Convene a big meeting on global warming, of course.The swaggering governator will host an international summit next week "to discuss and develop strategies aimed at combating climate change." Along with California's chief executive, five other governors plan to attend the extravaganza — between, of course, pleading for bailouts from Washington for their ailing state economies. Also invited are officials from Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, the EU, India, Indonesia, Mexico, New Zealand, Poland, Spain and Britain. In case...

The message delivered by Mary Nichols, chairwoman of the state's Air Resources Board, was clear: Businesses, especially small and midsize operations, will be the among the primary drivers behind the state's sweeping goal of reducing emissions to 1990 levels within 12 years. Underscoring that call to arms was the choice of venue. Nichols unveiled the fleshed-out plan at Advanced Micro Devices in Sunnyvale during a conference held by the Climate Group, a consortium of business leaders that released its own plan for helping employers toe the green line. The meeting was attended by officials from valley giants like Apple and...

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican who has challenged many members of his party to take climate change seriously, said Friday that he plans to invite lawmakers and governmental executives from around the globe to California this fall to address solutions to the problem. The governor said he will invite officials from Europe, as well as from Australia, China, India and other countries, in the hope of forming an international alliance of community and regional leaders. He is planning the conference for November, a month before the United Nations holds its next round of international climate talks...