Posted on 07/19/2006 9:17:55 AM PDT by NormsRevenge
SACRAMENTO – Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has proposed a powerful, centralized authority under his direct control that would be charged with implementing one of the nation's most far-reaching initiatives to curb global warming.
In a key overture to wary industries, Schwarzenegger's hand-picked Climate Action Board also would have the authority to delay a proposed deadline for reductions in greenhouse-gas emissions if state regulations prove too onerous for businesses.
Schwarzenegger has submitted his plan to various interests negotiating legislation that would map California's route toward a gradual rollback of greenhouse gases to 1990 levels by 2020, a potential 25 percent reduction. “It's essential that an emission reduction system have an economic safety valve to ensure the plan protects public health and the environment, is technologically feasible and is not detrimental to the California economy,” said Linda Adams, the governor's negotiator in environmental areas.
Environmentalists say they are sorting through the governor's proposal to reduce greenhouse gases, identified by scientists as a prime contributor to global warming.
Most of those involved say a legislative consensus may be reached later this summer, spurred in part by a series of recent warnings from various quarters, including Schwarzenegger's own water department and UCSD's Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla.
“The core elements of the bill – mandatory reporting of greenhouse-gas emissions and enforceable limits on greenhouse-gas pollution – have fairly strong support,” said Karen Douglas, a negotiator for Environmental Defense, one of the nation's largest environmental advocacy groups.
Many researchers say that left unchecked, global warming could drain water supplies and dry out forests, adding new wrinkles in California's perpetual debate over building reservoirs and managing timber. The pollution-caused phenomenon, linked to climatic disruptions around the world, could put food supplies at risk, bring deadly floods and sicken scores of people.
“California, without question, has a responsibility to address climate change,” said Adams, secretary of the state Environmental Protection Agency. “We must do our share to protect our public health, our water supply, our coastline and industry.”
California, a global economic power that ranks 12th in the world in terms of carbon dioxide emissions, must lead the way, the governor and legislative leaders agree.
Key elements of the governor's proposed amendments to Assembly Bill 32 include:
The policy-setting Climate Action Board would be composed almost exclusively of the governor's top agency chiefs.
Much of the oversight responsibility would be distributed throughout various departments that would be assigned to monitor specific industries.
The new board would establish by June 1, 2008, a set of still-unspecified reduction goals for 2012 and 2016 to ensure progress toward the 2020 target.
Industry could secure a reprieve if the 2020 reduction level proves to be harmful to the state's economy.
Businesses would be given compliance options, including buying credit for reducing emissions elsewhere in the state, if on-site cuts are not feasible or if the administration's future studies find that the rules cost jobs.
Some industry officials have urged rejection of California-only regulations, insisting that the state's agenda is too aggressive. They say mandatory limits will burden the state's economy with higher costs and more regulation. Producers could move out of state or offshore, leading to even more emissions in regions where controls are lax, whether it be in India or Indiana.
“This is a global issue, not a California issue,” said Allan Zaremberg, president of the California Chamber of Commerce. “What makes you think that if you drive up the price of energy and fuel you're going to create jobs in California?”
Refiners claim that they would have to reduce production by 17 percent to meet the proposed standards – the equivalent of shutting down three plants at a time of tighter supplies and spiking prices at the pump.
But Stanford University economist James L. Sweeney maintains that the net effect of new regulation will be small, whether positive or negative.
Caps with incentives could reduce emissions “without any significant damage to the economy if you design the rules of the game well,” he said.
Schwarzenegger has long recognized the overall threat posed by global warming, but he has been cautious given his business-friendly approach to environmental issues. He has issued an executive order calling for reductions in greenhouse gases and signed legislation that requires automakers to bring to the market less-polluting cars by the 2009 model year.
Schwarzenegger has set aside $30 million for at least 15 positions – from the Public Utilities Commission to the Waste Management Board – dedicated to taking on global-warming issues. His new budget includes an additional $1 million for a five-member legal team to defend the state against challenges to regulations.
Nobody will notice another box or two on the stage, will they?
Just what the world needs: another Austrian megalomaniac.
Well gee, they should just call Captain Planet and have him solve all the worlds problems. He'll dump all the worlds industrialists into big vats of goo. That'll teach em.
How can such a bright man be so stupid.
The governator's proposal produces greenhouse gases?.........
Heh, heh, heh.
I say we let California solve all the worlds problems.
Texas is not a good place however. It is EXTREMELY HOT and too rough a place to live.
I don't know, I've been in Texas in the spring and fall and the weather was perfect! I'm beginning to think you Texans are pulling our legs about the HOT weather. The real estate is much more reasonable in Texas than California! :^)
A really big air conditioner?
If Arnold can control the weather, how about making it rain on those wildfires?
Talk abot hubris....
Meanwhile I continue to believe California is probably doomed. I wonder if our dear Governor is accepting bribes from AZ, NV and OR to drive more business away from CA.
He's "stupid" because he knows how to pay off his backers? Or is it because you don't understand the corporate scam behind "global warming"?
I am going to remember that phrase, LOL!
Point taken.
How utterly hysterical and idiotic.
The Terminator of sane thought.
AB 32: California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006
42875.5. The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:(snip)
(e) California's leadership and actions to reduce global warming will have a significant impact by encouraging other states, the federal government, and other countries to act, all of which will be necessary to fully address this issue. In addition, by exercising early leadership, California will position its economy, technology centers, and businesses to benefit from national and international efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions now and in the future.
-Climate Action Board also would have the authority to delay a proposed deadline for reductions in greenhouse-gas emissions if state regulations prove too onerous for businesses.-
No need to worry - the rest of the businesses left in CA will have moved out of state.
Simple, we need cars to get to work. Work is necessary. But entertainment and gluttony is not necessary.
Thus. Let's fobid parking lots and the use of energy-pollution transportation to go to any location of entertainment or gluttony.
I'm sure all of Hollyweird will support it.
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