Posted on 08/28/2006 7:47:52 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
SACRAMENTO
If California becomes the first state to cap greenhouse gas emissions from industry, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger wants to ensure that the government can delay the regulations if an emergency arises.
The so-called "safety valve" sought by the administration has emerged as one of the key obstacles in negotiations over the landmark bill. Democratic lawmakers who are pushing the bill say they fear such a clause would provide more of an escape hatch than a safety valve, providing a loophole for industries that don't want to meet the emission limits.
"We want to make sure we have a bill that's strong, that's enforceable, that has real teeth to it," Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez, D-Los Angeles, said in an interview Monday with The Associated Press.
The legislation calls for the state's major industries, including utilities, oil and gas refineries, and manufacturers such as cement plants, to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. The goal is for emission levels throughout California to reach 1990 levels by 2020.
The target would translate into an estimated 25 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, which scientists blame for global warming.
Nunez said he planned to end negotiations and put the bill in its final form Monday night, setting the stage for a Senate vote as early as Tuesday. But it was unclear whether the administration would endorse the bill, which does not provide as much assurances for businesses as Schwarzenegger officials had hoped.
The two sides have been negotiating intensely for weeks over the bill, rushing to reach a compromise before the legislative session ends on Thursday. Both sides have said they want to succeed Democrats to advance one of their key policy initiatives and Schwarzenegger to continue momentum on climate change issues, one of his key environmental planks.
One of the outstanding issues is the so-called safety valve language. Both sides agree the state must have some flexibility to delay the emission caps if an emergency arises, but they remain at odds over when that would be appropriate.
Schwarzenegger has said he embraces an emissions cap, but his representatives say any legislation must give the state more flexibility to extend the timeline.
"This is a huge undertaking, an undertaking of 10 times the magnitude of energy deregulation," said Environmental Protection Agency Secretary Linda Adams, who is leading the negotiations for the administration. "We don't want to see another situation like the energy crisis where the state's hands were tied."
In 2001, then-Gov. Gray Davis was forced to call a special session of the Legislature to respond to the tripling of electricity rates and blackouts throughout the state, much of which was later determined to be caused by market manipulation.
Adams said a future governor should be given the tools to react during an emergency, rather than waiting until one has occurred. For example, the administration says the state must be able to push back the 2020 date if it is hit with an earthquake, terrorist attack or other catastrophe.
Regulators also might not be able to meet the cap timeline if the U.S. Supreme Court disqualifies a 2004 state law reducing vehicle tailpipe emissions. That regulation accounts for about 30 percent of California's clean-air reductions, Adams said.
But environmental groups fear any leniency could doom the state's goals and remove the incentive for businesses to invest in reducing greenhouse gases.
In addition, leaving an out for industries could undermine the creation of a so-called "cap-and-trade market." Under such a scenario, emission credits would be priced and put on the open market for companies to buy, sell or trade in exchange for reducing their own emissions, said Jim Martson, a senior attorney at Environmental Defense.
"If you don't know where there's going to be a firm date by which you have to act, it's hard to determine the allowances," Martson said.
Business groups opposed to the bill point to the ongoing dispute over the safety valve as evidence that California would suffer an economic burden if an emissions cap were enacted into law.
"Ironically, there is no clear program to implement in AB 32, but state leaders are hung up on arguments about safety valves and emergency mechanisms," said Jeanne Cain, senior vice president of the California Chamber of Commerce. "They clearly must fear some major economic crises if this bill is enacted and actual programs are created."
The Chamber of Commerce has labeled the global warming bill a "job killer," saying companies forced to buy emission credits in California will simply leave the state to do business elsewhere.
California businesses are divided over whether they can realistically meet the bill's mandatory reductions. The cap calls for reducing greenhouse gases by 174 million tons per year or the equivalent of the annual emissions from 43 coal-fired plants.
Because of that, Schwarzenegger has said a market system for emission credits must be mandated in the bill. Democrats say the issue deserves more study before it is prescribed in legislation.
California is the world's 12th-largest emitter of such pollutants. State reports in recent years warn that global warming could have far-reaching consequences in the nation's most populous state. A two-to-three degree increase in the temperature could melt the Sierra snowpack earlier, lead to flooding in the Central Valley and threatening the state's long-term water supply.
Despite their differences, both sides say they are optimistic an agreement will be struck.
"We're very hopeful that we'll have a bill," Adams said. "Time is running out."
(No more Olmert! No more Kadima! No more Oslo! )
Has anybody thought of a way to play the stock market to take advantage of California's imminent economic tailspin?
"Nevada and Arizona Welcome You"
The penny stocks are in play on Arnie's $3 Billion "Million Solar Roofs" program.
Care to gamble on some pinksheets?
http://www.marketwire.com/mw/release_html_b1?release_id=157895
You could short sell companies that have concentrated their manufacturing assets in California and that will be targeted by this legislation.
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