Global Warming In the News

Maybe it's the summer heat, or Al Gore's documentary.

Whatever the cause, California environmentalists and Democratic lawmakers have embarked on an ambitious campaign to catapult the state ahead of the nation on a number of green initiatives.

From greenhouse-gas caps to alternative energy, they say it's time to make significant changes after watching a number of clean-water and air-quality bills vetoed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in recent years. They say the looming election should also help motivate politicians to think green.

"There's no question the leadership California can provide on this issue on the sustainability of our planet," Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez, D-Los Angeles, recently testified before an environmental committee. "The world really is watching today what we do in California."

It won't be easy. Business and trade groups have already targeted dozens of environmental bills as job killers. A coalition led by the California Chamber of Commerce has taken out print and radio ads against one of Nunez's pet bills.

At the center of the debate is AB 32, which would require industries to report how much greenhouse gas they emit -- and place caps on emissions starting in 2012.

"We don't think heavy-handed regulation and bureaucracy is necessary," said Thomas Tietz, who heads the California Nevada Cement Promotion Council.

Backers say AB 32 would spur new technologies, but Tietz warned that such caps will backfire on the local economy. He said the bill would drive cement producers out of state and force California to import materials produced from countries or states with less stringent environmental rules.

Right now there's no emission regulation on major industries like power companies, fuel refineries, manufacturers and landfills. The United States is the biggest contributor to global warming, with power plants and transportation making up more than two-thirds of the nation's carbon dioxide emissions, according to a report from Environment California.

Businesses oppose any emissions cap and prefer the status quo of voluntary emissions reporting.

In April, Schwarzenegger put together a "Climate Action Summit" of business, political, environmental and academic leaders to tout a report on ways California can reduce greenhouse gas emissions. He said then he supported emissions caps but cautioned that it might take time to phase them in.

Terry Tamminen, the governor's senior adviser for energy and the environment, said the governor has not said whether he would sign the bill by Nunez and Assemblywoman Fran Pavley, D-Agoura Hills, if it makes it to his desk.

"You can have a strong economy by investing in the environment," Tamminen said. "He did say he wants a careful, steady ramp-up because you don't want to drive business out of the state."

Schwarzenegger has sought to establish his environmental credentials with several key initiatives.

Through the Public Utilities Commission, he has championed a solar roof program aimed at putting one million panels on California homes and businesses. The PUC earlier this year set targets for California to reduce its greenhouse emissions to 2000 levels in the next five years and to 1990 levels in 15 years.

State Senate Republicans on Thursday prevented a bill that serves as the framework for the solar rebate plan from reaching the governor's desk, arguing they had not had a chance to look at revisions. The bill was sent to back to committee for review before the Legislature broke for summer recess.

Schwarzenegger says his administration is promoting biofuels and wants state government buildings to cut energy use by 20 percent by the year 2015.

Environmentalists are hoping that with Schwarzenegger campaigning for re-election and Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth" raising public awareness about rising global temperatures and melting polar ice, there will be enough momentum to pass key bills.

"Many of these important bills would pit the governor's environmental promises against his support from big business. So Schwarzenegger might face his own inconvenient truth -- to choose between his campaign contributors and his campaign promises," Bill Magavern, a lobbyist with Sierra Club California.