In 2006, California stepped in where federal law was lacking: by putting 2020 clean air goals into law. Known as the Global Warming Solutions Act, or AB32, the law seeks to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in California and impose new requirements on power plants, manufacturers and other businesses.
What oil companies don't want
Sounds like a good idea, right? In a study released by the Air Resources Board in March 2010, economists say that even with the downturn, AB32 would help create two million jobs by 2020, with $3.8 billion saved in reduced consumption of gasoline and diesel fuel.
So, who would oppose such a job-creating, environmental-helping act?
Big Oil, you say?
Sadly, that’s just the case. Texas oil companies Valero and Tesoro have dumped $1.9 million dollars into California to help unravel AB32 through a benign-sounding ballot measure dubbed the “California Jobs Initiative”. Their proposed measure will appear before voters this fall.
The initiative calls for a suspension of AB32 until California’s unemployment rate – now at 12.6 percent – drops to 5.5 percent and stays there for a year– a magic number that has only happened three times in the past 30 years, according to California Employment Development Department statistics.
Ultimately, the proposed suspension is a way to permanently end AB32.
Other polluters have joined the fight. As of the end of March, 89% of the funding of the initiative came from the oil industry, with nearly three quarters of that just from Texas oil companies. The Tea Party has been drawn in to oppose AB32 as well.
Other sources of funding are dubious. In April, a nonprofit group called the Adam Smith Foundation, based in Jefferson City, Missouri, gave $498,000 to the campaign to repeal California’s greenhouse gas law. The group’s entire revenue for the last two years just barely reached $60,000.
Scandal aside, if we’re thinking about how to support a growing population, the economy has to transition away from extracting things from the ground.
We need to consider which sector will take California further. According to the CA government, “While the rest of the economy struggled with job losses of one percent, the clean tech sector surged ahead in 2007-2008 with growth of five percent. The green economy could soon become the nation’s fastest-growing job segment, accounting for roughly 10 percent of new jobs over the next 20 years – up to 4.2 million new green jobs – 500,000 in California.”
And if one really does care about the California worker, dirty air causes health problems and costs individuals and the state money (not the factories). 95% of Californians live in areas with unhealthy air. Cleaning things up would cost the factories, which I prefer to individuals doling out money for health problems caused by pollutants.
Though Governor Schwartzenegger struck back at the initiative, blasting the “greedy oil companies” for trying to set back the sweeping environmental policy, Schwartzenegger won’t be in office for much longer.
The California governor’s race is full of candidates who are all about killing AB32—mainly Meg Whitman and Steve Poizner. Only Jerry Brown, a Democrat, sees the benefits of keeping it alive.
Clean air and jobs can both exist. Since I don’t foresee a federal climate act passing anytime soon, having a state law to spur growth and protect air quality seems appropriate. Oil companies from Texas shouldn’t be allowed to decide this.
Check here for some myths and facts about AB32, found on the CA government website.
On the Ground 