Free Republic

States: A court has tentatively ruled against California's cap-and-trade law because alternatives were not considered. But then, neither were climate facts or the economic impact. There's a delicious irony in the ruling by San Francisco Superior Court Judge Ernest Goldsmith barring the California Air Resources Board (CARB) from implementing AB32, the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006. In the opinion of the court, CARB failed to complete the required environmental review under the California Environmental Quality Act because it did not adequately analyze the legislation to see if there are better ways to get the job done. One of the...

California's sweeping plan to institute cap and trade and regulate "greenhouse gases" has been thrown out by a San Francisco judge. SFGate.com reports: The California Air Resources Board violated state environmental law in 2008 when it adopted a comprehensive plan to reduce greenhouse gases and again last year when it passed cap-and-trade regulations, a San Francisco Superior Court judge has ruled in a tentative decision. [snip] In his decision, Superior Court Judge Ernest Goldsmith ruled that the air board approved the larger plan to implement AB32 prior to completing the required environmental review, and that the board failed to adequately consider alternatives to cap and...

Regulations: A California legislator pushes a November ballot initiative to free the state from the job-killing shackles of a 2006 law designed to fight climate change. The other choice is freezing in the unemployment line. At last report, California's unemployment rate was 12.3%, with 2.25 million residents looking for work. So one would assume the first rule of holes would apply — when you're in one, stop digging. Yet there was Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger touting his state's green initiatives in Copenhagen as California barrels toward full implementation of its own version of job-killing cap-and-trade. "The desire and hope and desperate...

Today, the Air Resources Board adopted a regulation that will implement Governor Schwarzenegger's Low Carbon Fuel Standard calling for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from California's transportation fuels by ten percent by 2020. The new regulation is aimed at diversifying the variety of fuels used for transportation. It will boost the market for alternative-fuel vehicles and achieve 16 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emission reductions by 2020. ARB representatives describe the measure as the most important early-action called for under AB 32, the Global Warming Solutions Act (Nunez, 2006). "The new standard means we can begin to break...

The legislation California enacted last month to seize for itself a leading role in the fight against global warming is only the beginning of what will likely be five years of intense, behind-the-scenes battles over just how to reduce greenhouse gases to the level emitted in 1990, when California's population and its economy were much smaller than they are today. AB 32 was titled the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006. But the bill does little more than establish the goal of reducing the state's greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent below levels now projected for 2020. That's about 174...

SACRAMENTO (AP) - A Senate committee on Wednesday recommended removing Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's appointee to head the state Air Resources Board, an agency that has led the nation in cutting air pollution and reducing automobile emissions. A vote by the full Senate was scheduled for Thursday. The committee, on a party-line vote, cited the polarizing influence of Cindy Tuck as chairwoman of the California Air Resources Board. She has held the job for just six weeks after two decades representing the oil and energy industries. The air board has enacted numerous regulations that have been mimicked by other states and...

SACRAMENTO - Bay Area transit agencies are fighting a proposed state regulation that would force them to use natural gas buses -- a move that could cost $300 million and trigger reductions in service while reaping big bucks for an industry that has contributed heavily to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. The requirement, to be considered by air regulators next month, has amplified concern not only about special interest influence but also about the governor's appointment of Cindy Tuck to lead the California Air Resources Board. Tuck is a former energy industry lobbyist who faces a contentious Senate confirmation hearing on Wednesday....

Roused by a recent report that Californians' health is endangered as much from polluted air indoors as outdoors, a state lawmaker said Thursday she will push to give the state Air Resources Board the power to clean up indoor air. Assemblywoman Sally Lieber, D-Mountain View, said the report, which was produced by air board staff members at the request of the Legislature, was "even more damning than most people thought it would be." Lieber's comments came in an interview Thursday after a hearing on the subject by the Assembly Select Committee on Air and Water Quality, of which she is...

<p>The rotary dial telephone. The black-and-white TV. The eight-track tape player.</p> <p>California is on the verge of adding a new item to the list of yesterday's technologies: the electric car.</p> <p>In a historic shift, state officials spent Monday putting the finishing touches on a new plan to end a longstanding requirement that forces automobile companies to build and sell specific numbers of electric cars in California.</p>

<p>In a historic shift, the state of California announced today a series of new rules that largely abandon the state's 12-year commitment requiring automobile companies to build and sell electric cars.</p> <p>The California Air Resources Board said electric car technology has not lived up to its promise, and that instead, state smog officials will allow hybrid cars, including the Toyota Prius, Honda Civic and other soon-to-be released models, to qualify under its clean car rules.</p>