Posted on 08/22/2006 11:28:55 AM PDT by calcowgirl
SACRAMENTO – Californians could eventually see subtle and dramatic innovations in grocery stores, new-car showrooms and kitchens if Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and leading Democrats agree on legislation aimed at slowing global warming.
Venture capitalists and entrepreneurs say a commitment from the state to regulate greenhouse gases would send a confidence-building signal to the marketplace, spurring a clean-tech revolution on par with the surge in high-tech and biotech that has helped drive California's economy.
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“Sustainable technologies are the next big thing. This is really the mother of all markets,” said John Doerr, a billionaire who helped launch Google, Intuit and the Segway scooter.
Unlike Doerr and other entrepreneurs who stand to make money off state-ordered clean technology, industries such as cement makers, utilities and manufacturers remain worried about emissions caps. The California Chamber of Commerce has warned that additional regulations would lead to a spike in energy prices and job losses.
“By placing an arbitrary carbon-emissions cap on California employers, we would be encouraging them to leave our state and take jobs to countries or states that do not impose caps,” said Allan Zaremberg, president of the state Chamber of Commerce. “When employers move to other global locations, they may produce even more carbon emissions.”
On Thursday, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved the legislation, Assembly Bill 32.
Most researchers agree that unchecked greenhouse gases, primarily carbon dioxide, could disrupt global climate patterns, threaten crops, raise the risk of forest fires and shrink Sierra snowpacks that hold water for millions of Southern Californians. However, a few skeptics say the climate shifts have little to do with human emissions and may be part of historic weather patterns.
Schwarzenegger has made the issue a centerpiece of his environmental agenda as he runs for re-election, proposing a rollback of emissions to 1990 levels by 2020.
Schwarzenegger's push puts him at odds with the state Chamber of Commerce, one of his closest allies. But other business interests are eager to see the measure pass, convinced that state regulations will prod demand for their energy-saving products, from hybrid cars to solar panels.
Doerr, who led a contingent of investors and entrepreneurs on a Capitol lobbying trip last week, said Californians should not be surprised to see big and small changes.
“Seven years ago, there was no Google. That's how fast Californians can change the world,” Doerr said.
Grocery stores already are starting to adapt by putting goods such as milk and eggs behind doors instead of in open refrigeration units. Time-of-use metering, common on farms and in other industries, may come to the kitchen and laundry room as power companies seek to discourage the use of large appliances by charging more during periods of peak energy demand.
California already has moved to push car makers to curb greenhouse gas emissions in their fleets starting with the 2009 models. Demand for hybrids such as the Toyota Prius and Honda Civic continues to outstrip production.
Moreover, said entrepreneur Felix Kramer, state-required reductions from all industries would spark investment interest in his venture, a hybrid car that plugs into a wall socket and gets the equivalent of 100 miles per gallon of gas.
“It's important to have a long-term market and stable demand. That's what we need,” Kramer said. “The legislation and regulations will provide that.”
The endorsement of leading entrepreneurs with a stake in clean-air technologies has helped shift the debate and has handed business-friendly Democrats a reason to support the legislation in an election year.
“It's bringing new voices to the fight. When you have new voices, it makes good political sense to exercise them,” said Ann Notthoff, state advocacy director for the Natural Resources Defense Council.
Schwarzenegger appears confident that a compromise bill will reach his desk before the Legislature ends its session for the year by the end of the month.
“There will be some environmentalists who say this is not perfect and there will be other people in the business community who will say this is not perfect,” Schwarzenegger said Wednesday. “For us, the challenge is to prove that we can protect the environment and also protect the economy at the same time.”
That may be impossible, economist Margo Thorning said. She argued that fuel prices will soar as utilities and refiners recoup their investment in reducing emissions. In turn, consumers and businesses will squeeze their spending to pay higher energy bills.
“People don't have unlimited resources,” Thorning said.
However, a recent study by the University of California Berkeley concluded that California's economy will see a net gain in jobs amid an injection of new investment in technology.
Although Democrats and the governor are in agreement on a broad framework, they remain split on three major points: how much industry should be allowed to buy pollution credits elsewhere to meet required targets, what powers to grant a regulatory agency and how to temporarily relieve businesses of obligations in a natural or economic disaster.
Environmentalists say California is positioned to show the way nationally, leading to lowered expenses as more technology comes to the market.
“The entire country is looking to California to lead,” said Jim Marston, an Environmental Defense attorney involved in global warming issues nationally.
Business generally agrees on that point. But Kevin Fay, who represents a consortium of large corporations that included DuPont, Boeing and General Electric, called the legislation “a big gamble.”
“No economy this size,” Fay said, “has gone it alone in the world.”
Like they don't have enough to worry about in California. Now they're gonna cure us of global warming which may or may not exist.
What a bunch of goofballs.
As if we need more reasons to leave...
They'll see "dramatic" and "innovative" pricing too since all this needless crap costs big bucks. You and I will pay and pay.
Here's how we cut in half "greenhouse gasses" in California: require proof of citizenship to purchase gasoline.
( No more Olmert! No more Kadima! No more Oslo!)
There.
I fixed it.
If, as I believe, global warming is real and a natural cycle, all the wealth in the world will fail to "solve" or even "slow" anything. Adapt? Perhaps.
Might as well create legislation eliminating tides; or volcanoes; or tornadoes; or...
( No more Olmert! No more Kadima! No more Oslo!)
( No more Olmert! No more Kadima! No more Oslo!)
( No more Olmert! No more Kadima! No more Oslo!)
Yes, it will shutdown the California economy and the crazy ninth supreme court would uphold it. Bye Bye California.
What next? Will California regulate farts?
they are trying in the central valley.. cow farts no less
This lady economist has it exactly right! These brain-dead billionaires all start thinking that that their big bank account is a substitute for brains!!! Trouble is, so do all the celebrity worshippers and now we've got both in CA... celebrity swooners and billionairhead worshippers.
One thing the celebrities and billionaires both know... If ya can't dazzle 'em with yer brilliance, ya can always baffle 'em with yer bool chit!!! All this, is exactly THAT!!!
Everybody just assumes that billionaires are automatic geniuses!!! It just isn't true! These dudes put their pants on one leg at a time exactly like the rest of us!!! They may have made it with persistence and determination, the two key ingredients, but not always with brains... Judas Priest!!!
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