by Julia Rosen [courtesy of Working Californians blogs]

Speaker Pelosi is not the California politician to have notified Rep. Bouscher of their opposition to his bill, which would overrule California's greenhouse gas emissions legislation. A dozen Democrats, including Rep. Jane Harman and Rep. Henry Waxman sent a letter to Rep. Bouscher. Arnold signed on to a letter along with the governors from Arizona, Massachusetts, New York, New Mexico, Oregon, Pennsylvania and Washington. AP:

"Congress must not deny states the right to pursue solutions in the absence of federal policy," they wrote.

This should set up a fight in the House Energy and Commerce committee, with some Republicans joining Rep. Bouscher and Dingell.

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Assemblymember Lloyd E. Levine
Chair, Assembly Utilities and Commerce Committee

This week, the Assembly’s Utilities and Commerce Committee, legislation that I’ve authored to phase out the sale of incandescent light bulbs in California by 2012 – Assembly Bill 722 – was passed by the Committee on a bipartisan 9-3 vote. It was the first hearing for the bill, which was first announced on January 30, and since that time has garnered an amazing amount of attention around the world – and really, for quite a simple idea.

It takes 18 seconds to change a light bulb – but that 18 seconds can make all the difference to our environment, as well as California’s energy future. The goal of the legislation is to reduce power use while simultaneously cutting carbon dioxide emissions from power plants by 1.8 million metric tons per year, which is the equivalent of taking 400,000 cars off the roads and highways.