[courtesy of Blog for America]

Dear All,

In the grand tradition of the savings and loan debacle of the 80's, the mortgaged backed securities meltdown that currently threatens to undermine our financial markets, NAFTA, GATT, and the invasion & occupation of Iraq, our leaders in the Senate are once again preparing to hoist upon an unsuspecting public another catastrophe in the making.  I am referring to Senate Bill 2191, America's Climate Security Act.  This insidious piece of legislation crafted by Senators Lieberman and Warner and lined with ways for the most clever and unscrupulous among us to make "big bucks" includes the: 

Establishment of a greenhouse gas (GHG) registry and a GHG emission allowance transfer system for covered facilities, including specified facilities within the electric power and industrial sectors and facilities that produce or entities that import petroleum- or coal- based transportation fuel or chemicals. Sets forth emission allowances for 2012-2050, with a declining cap on GHGs;

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Frank O'Donnell
President
Clean Air Watch

Twelve governors (California, Arizona, Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Vermont and Washington) have to congressional leaders and the President, protesting the disgusting move this week by the federal Department of Transportation, which is seeking to preempt these and other states from enforcing greenhouse gas standards for motor vehicles.

As the letters note, the Bush administration once again is making a cynical attempt to re-write the Clean Air Act and to take away a fundamental states’ right.

This issue, of course, involves the ongoing conspiracy between the Bush White House and the car industry to kill the California car standards. But another interesting greenhouse gas drama is starting to play out in California – and it could have a ripple effect on Congress.

In that case, the issue is how to reduce electric power emissions in California. (There was an excellent piece the other day in the LA Times.

by Julia Rosen [courtesy of Working Californians blogs]

Dan Weintraub is skeptical that we can continue to grow our economy under the greenhouse gas regulations resulting from the passage of AB32. He is afraid that increased costs on businesses will drive them out of the state. Fortunately for us all there is somebody who is tracking the reduction of greenhouse gases in conjunction with economic growth. SacBee:

A key measure that sums up the entire challenge is one that compares carbon emissions per million people to the state's economic output.

Ideally, the two lines would move in opposite directions.

"We want the economy to grow while we want emissions to decline," said Doug Henton, an economist and Next 10 adviser. "That's it in a nutshell."

Interestingly, that's also pretty much what has been happening over the past decade – even without the state's intervention. California has been using less carbon per person while its economy has been growing.

read more »

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

Major Bills in Health, Flood Control, Environment, Prisons, Ports, to Name a Few

By Frank D. Russo

There are over 700 bills now pending in the California State Legislature that have made it through committees in both houses and are scheduled for votes on the floor that could send them to the Governor's desk with little over a week to go in this year's regular session.

The numbers do not tell the entire picture, as there are major issues yet to be resolved, including near universal health care coverage, redistricting, gay marriage, clean air, the state's prisons, flood control and water, and a host of bills from green building standards to low carbon fuel standards designed to help implement AB 32, the landmark greenhouse gas reductions bill passed last year.

Any list is necessarily incomplete, as many of the bills that will be considered just moved out of the fiscal committees in both houses at the end of last week. For instance, SB 974 by Senator Lowenthal, on pollution from the state's ports, that would impose a fee on containers shipped into the state, passed out of the Assembly Appropriations Committee and should be set for a final vote in the Assembly, but does not appear in the file yet.

[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

Senate Republicans are pounding their chests about the so-called concession they won in the California Environmental Quality Act after 52 days of obstruction. But if you ask environmental insiders and Democratic leaders what they got, they agree on one thing: the GOP was snookered. In fact, greenhouse gas protections may have even been strengthened by the Republican's move!

Here are the details:

1. Question:

The Republicans demanded changes in law to stop Jerry Brown and others from filing lawsuits against San Bernardino County development plans, oil refinery upgrades, and other projects that produce greenhouse gases (GHG’s). Does this language do that?

Answer:

The short answer is no. If anything, the language strengthens environmental protections for climate change impacts.

The language does two things:

a. First, it mandates new CEQA guidelines by 2010 that spell out what parties must do to "mitigate" (or address) the global warming impacts of their projects, something not required under current law;

b. And second, it states that inadequate analyses of greenhouse gas emissions otherwise regulated by the ARB under AB 32 for transportation projects funded under Proposition 1-B and flood control projects under proposition 1-E are not a basis for bringing lawsuits under CEQA.

read more »

[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

California Secretary of State Debra Bowen will be holding hearings today to investigate electronic votion machines.Frank Russo of the California Progress Report urges calm followingrevelations that the voting machines we use have security flaws: "Someof the headlines have screamed dramatically that every system washackable, but Bowen cautioned reporters on Friday that there may besolutions to these and to not get carried away with the numbers ofviolations or superficial analyses."

Global warming is shaping up to be a huge issue to voters and politicians alike. Arecent Public Policy Institute poll revealed that 78% of Californianssupport the Global Warming Solutions Act, which requires a 25%reduction of California's greenhouse gas output by 2020. This isn't apartisan issue. Even John McCain has said, "Global warming ishappening. ... It is a serious problem, and humans are causing it."

by Julia Rosen [courtesy of Working Californians blogs]

There is no real change in the political situation on the budget in the past day. The Republicans are still pledging to stick together on their $842 million in deep cuts to the budget and the Democrats are united against it. Perata is now calling the Republican's actions "fiscal terrorism". Meanwhile, more details on what exactly the Republicans have proposed to slash emerged.

One of the biggest is their end around attempt to try and stop Attorney General Jerry Brown from going after polluters. It is something they can't accomplish in the normal legislative process, so they are trying to do it through the budget. They want to restrict his ability to enforce the landmark greenhouse gas bill AB 32. All of the major environmental groups issued a joint statement titled "Senate Republicans Declare Open Season on the Environment". LAT:

The coalition warned that a demand by the lawmakers to restrict enforcement of a landmark law passed last year to curb greenhouse gases "is a radical departure from established state policy." Business interests "want a moratorium now while they delay and obstruct regulation in the future."

The Republicans also want to slash another $15 million from our state park's maintenance fund. State Parks is already woefully behind on maintenance and this will only further degrade our parks.