Proposed Legislation to Exempt Oil Industry from Compliance with California Climate Policy

Press Statement By Adrienne Alvord, California and Western States Director at the Union of Concerned Scientists

Published Jul 3, 2014 Updated Jul 8, 2014

SACRAMENTO (JULY 3, 2014) –- California Assembly member Henry Perea today introduced AB69, a bill that would exempt transportation fuels from the state’s cap-and-trade program until 2018.

Below is a press statement by Adrienne Alvord:

“The Union of Concerned Scientists urges the California Legislature to defeat AB69 and maintain the responsibility of transportation fuel providers to contribute their fair share along with other industries to the state’s cap-and-trade program.

“It is disappointing that some members of the Legislature are succumbing to oil company scare tactics, ignoring California’s trailblazing efforts to reduce carbon pollution and the real-time economic benefits they are delivering to their constituents. This legislation would absolve the oil industry from paying for the pollution they create and deny the economic and health benefits that this policy provides to the communities represented by these lawmakers.

“We need to maintain these policies and help break the monopoly that oil companies hold on fueling transportation. Transportation fuels account for 40 percent of the state’s global warming emissions and are a major contributor to respiratory diseases and cancer. Delaying the inclusion fuels in the cap-and-trade program would delay the reductions in carbon emissions that Californians want.”