Behind the California's Budget Delay: Republican Senators Want Attorney General Brown to Delay Enforcing California Global Warmi

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Frank D. Russo

The play here by California Republican State Senators to tie the hands of our elected state Attorney General, Jerry Brown in enforcing California's laws in requiring the consideration of global warming under the decades long established California Environment Quality Act reveal a level of sleaze and hypocrisy that just doesn't pass the smell test. It speaks volumes for why they are in a tiny minority of the Senate on the substance of what they are trying to do, the procedure of inserting this into the budget at the last minute they are trying to use, the level of personal attacks they are making on the Attorney General, and the work they are doing for special interest big time contributors.

The chief hypocrisy here is that these Republican Senators are trying to block AB 32, California's landmark greenhouse gas law that passed last year and that every single one of them voted against. Check the record: 14 of them who in the Senate voted against the law and Senator Dave Cogdill, who was in the Assembly at the time voted against it in that body.

It's good to see that Brown is firing back. He said the following yesterday afternoon:

“It is an outrage that a small group of Republican Senators would gut California’s Environmental Quality Act as the price of their voting—a month late—on this year’s budget. Their proposal would profoundly undercut the positive efforts of cities and counties to reduce greenhouse gases and fight global warming.

"It is the constitutional responsibility of the Attorney General to enforce all the laws of California, including our ground breaking environmental laws. California has a proud history as being the unquestioned leader in the fight to control global warming. We should not let a few Republican state Senators—all of whom opposed the Global Warming Solutions Act--turn back the clock with this misguided and retrograde maneuver. It represents global warming denial at its worst.”

The release today of the Public Policy Institute of California's poll that California residents and voters clearly want more enforcement of the state's global warming and clean air laws, even if it costs more to businesses to comply.

How much clearer a message do these guys need?