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Contents
- Summary
BILLS THAT PASSED AND WERE SIGNED:
- AB 32 - California Global Warming Emissions Cap
- SB 1368 - Global Warming Emissions Standard for Electricity Generation
- SB 107 - Accelerated Renewable Energy Standard
- SB 1505 - Green Standards for Hydrogen Fuel Production
BILLS THAT DID NOT MAKE IT OUT OF THE LEGISLATURE:
- California Clean Car Discount Bill
- SB 999 - Reforming the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District
BILLS THAT WERE VETOED BY THE GOVERNOR:
- SB 1012-Alternative Fuel Vehicles
- SB 927--Cleaning Up California's Port Pollution
Check Out Our New Global Warming Website!
Summary
Thanks to an intensive campaign by Union of Concerned Scientists staff, activists, and scientists alongside a broad coalition of health, faith, business, and environmental groups, the California state legislature passed some of the strongest global warming bills in the country in 2006—including four of UCS's top priority bills! These bill were all signed by Governor Schwarzenegger.
Unfortunately, four other very important bills dealing with air pollution and global warming did not make it.
See below for a summary of these bills in the 2006 California state legislative session.
AB 32—California Global Warming Emissions Cap
In the final hours of the 2006 legislative session, by a vote of 47 to 32, the California assembly passed AB 32, a landmark global warming bill. AB 32 could become a model for other states in the face of continued federal inaction. Governor Schwarzenegger signed the bill in an elaborate ceremony with British Prime Minister Tony Blair and the bill's authors, Assembly Member Fran Pavley and Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez, on September 27th.
UCS intends to invest considerable time and resources in working with scientists, economists, state agency staff and officials, community members, and other key stakeholders to make sure that the implementation plans developed by the state over the next several years most effectively achieve the needed reductions. Stay tuned for more alerts on this issue!
Highlights of the AB 32 Support Campaign:
- New Documentary Film and Global Warming House Parties
UCS worked with several scientists to produce a 15-minute documentary entitled “California on the Frontlines of Global Warming.” The film premiered in a grassroots fashion on July 27, with UCS activists in 50 cities across California holding 72 screenings in their homes, churches, synagogues, libraries, and schools. After screening the film, party guests participated in a conference call with actor and activist Ed Begley Jr. and UCS California Director Jason Mark. Participants discussed the national and global leadership California is taking to curb global warming and the steps we can all take to support California’s landmark climate policies. Nearly 2,000 guests attended the parties and signed up to take action in support of California’s precedent-setting global warming bill—AB 32.
 Fan Delivery at the Capitol
On August 22, days before the final vote on AB 32, UCS supporters delivered nearly 2,000 signed and decorated fans to legislators and the governor, after arranging them in the shape of a 30-foot tall “AB 32” on the capitol lawn. The fans read "This fan can keep you cool. We need AB 32 to help keep California cool! Vote for AB 32: Global Warming Solutions Act 2006.”- Economists Sign-On Letter
Sixty of the state’s leading economists, including three Nobel laureates, signed a letter to Governor Schwarzenegger and state legislators, urging them to accelerate policies to reduce global warming emissions. “The most expensive thing we can do,” they wrote, “is nothing.”
SB 1368- Global Warming Emissions Standard for Electricity Generation
This important bill, authored by Senate President Pro-Tempore Don Perata, requires the California Energy Commission (CEC) to set a global warming emissions standard for electricity used in California—regardless of whether it's generated in-state or purchased from plants in other states. The new standard will apply to any new long-term financial contracts for base load electricity. This law could help prevent new dirty coal plants from being built to serve California's growing electricity demand and will instead encourage development of clean electricity generation technologies including renewables. SB 1368 has been signed by the governor.
SB 107 - Accelerated Renewable Energy Standard
Sponsored by State Senators Joe Simitian and Don Perata, SB 107 moves the timeline to reach the state's existing 20 percent renewable energy standard requirement up by seven years to 2010. UCS has been one of the bill's main advocates over the last year and a half and has crafted several amendments as the bill wound its way through the legislative process. This bill has been signed by the governor.
SB 1505 - Green Standards for Hydrogen Fuel Production
SB 1505, a bill sponsored by UCS and authored by State Senator Alan Lowenthal, sets strong environmental performance standards for hydrogen as a transportation fuel. This bill will make sure that as hydrogen develops into a viable alternative transportation fuel, the expected environmental benefits are actually realized. This bill was signed by the governor.
California Clean Car Discount Bill
UCS sponsored the California Clean Car Discount bill, which would reduce global warming emissions through rebates on clean cars funded by one-time surcharges on dirty cars. Thanks to the hundreds of letters, phone calls, and meetings UCS activists held with their state legislators, the bill passed out of the state assembly. This is a major accomplishment since the bill was given little chance of passing at the beginning of the legislative session. However, the bill stalled in the state senate due to some procedural hurdles. Although the bill will now have to be reintroduced in January at the start of the 2007 legislative session, the author, Assembly Member Ira Ruskin, is enthusiastically committed to working even harder next year to get the bill to the governor's desk.
SB 999--Reforming the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District
UCS supported the Central Valley Air Quality Coalition in a massive, multi-year effort to pass this much-needed bill. SB 999 would have expanded the Valley Air Board membership from 11 to 15 members, to include additional representation from urban areas and members of the public. The cities of Fresno, Bakersfield, and Stockton would have each gained a permanent seat on the Valley Air Board. The bill also would have added two non-elected (public) members to the Board with expertise in medical health and air quality science. Unfortunately, State Assembly Member Nicole Parra succeeded in killing this bill in the final hours of the 2006 legislative session.
AB 1012--Alternative Fuel Vehicles
AB 1012 (by Assembly Member Joe Nation) would have required at least half of cars and light trucks sold in California in 2020 to run on clean alternative fuels. Although htis bill aws passed by the legislature, the governor did not sign it.
SB 927--Cleaning Up California's Port Pollution
SB 927 (by Assembly member Alan Lowenthal) would have funded air quality, security, and infrastructure improvements at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach by collecting a mere $30 from each massive shipping container moving through the ports, resulting in an estimated $150 million per year. The California Air Resources Board (CARB) determined that emissions from ports and goods movement activities cause 2,400 premature deaths and more than 1 million school absences in the state every year. This bill was passed by the legislature but not signed by the governor.
Check Out Our New Global Warming Website!
UCS has developed a new website dedicated to publicizing the latest scientific projections for how global warming may impact California and offering solutions on how to curb global warming—Climate Choices. The site employs video clips of interviews with scientists and others on the “frontlines” of global warming. The site also contains links to the new brochure “Our Changing Climate: Assessing the Risks to California,” produced by UCS and the California Climate Change Center. Check the site for updates on California's global warming cap implementation and other global warming updates throughout the year. |
