On June 26th, the governor’s Air Resources
Board released the first draft of the state’s plan for cutting global warming pollution more than 25% by 2020.
Hear Environment California's Jason Barbose talk about the issue on KPFA radio:
While the draft is strong, it doesn't say whether polluters will have to pay for their pollution credits.
As we see it, the governor’s plan can still go one of two ways: One way would allow the state's
biggest polluters to create windfall profits by selling pollution
"credits" they get for free (which is what happened in Europe). The
alternative is Environment California’s vision: make polluters pay for their
pollution, and funnel that money into wind and solar power, greener buildings,
and a cleaner transportation system.
Global Warming Solutions Fact Sheet: Then check out our one-page overview on why polluters should
have to pay for their carbon permits in a cap and trade system.
Polluter
Profit Fact Sheet: You can also read a fact sheet showing the outrageous
profits of the biggest oil companies in California that are trying to get the
Schwarzenegger administration to repeat the mistakes of the European Union
which gave away billions of dollar in permits to polluters for free.
The scientific consensus is in and public awareness is on
the rise—it’s time to tackle global warming head on. From dangerous heat waves
and shrinking snowpack, to intense winter storms and increased summer smog, California will suffer
irreversible consequences unless we reduce the amount of global warming
pollution we emit.
The simple truth is that solving global warming means
kicking our dependence on fossil fuels. Unfortunately, the combustion of fossil
fuels—oil, gas and coal—accounts for 88 percent of California’s global warming pollution. Furthermore,
California is
the 12th largest source of global warming pollution in the world.
With global warming threatening our future, energy prices
surging, and war raging in the Middle East, we
need to change course now and move beyond fossil fuels.
Investing in
solutions to global warming
It’s time for California
to make a large, long-term investment in clean energy technologies that will
solve global warming.Solar power,
high-speed trains, zero-energy homes—these are the technologies that will drive
our transition to a clean energy economy and ultimately solve the climate
crisis.
Environment California is
working to get the Schwarzenegger Administration to create a $1+ billion-a-year
Global Warming Solutions Fund to invest in solar, wind, energy efficiency and
other technologies that will put California
on a path to reducing global warming emissions by 25 percent by 2020.
Make Polluters Pay
As California leads the way
on global warming, a big challenge is to decide how to pay for investments to replace
our biggest sources of pollution.Environment
California is supporting a plan to fund clean energy by making polluters pay
for every ton of global warming pollution they emit, while continuing to push
forward with strong policies to require increased production of clean,
renewable electricity and energy efficiency.
As
the Schwarzenegger Administration considers a “cap-and-trade” program to cut
global warming pollution, Environment California is working to ensure that
polluters pay for 100% of their emissions.
Making polluters pay is the cleanest, cheapest and smartest
way to cut global warming pollution. After decades of
government subsidies to fossil fuel industries, it’s time to level the playing
field and reward clean technology.
Environment California
supports using revenue from polluters to:
Invest in clean energy research
and development and the deployment of renewable energy technologies.
Reduce costs for consumers with investments
in energy efficiency and annual rebates.
Support
development of “green collar” jobs
through training and outreach programs.
Support pollution reductions in California’s
most polluted communities.
