At a
ceremony in San Francisco, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger made
history today, signing into law the nation’s first statewide cap on global
warming pollution, a measure that will reduce emissions in the nation’s most
populous state by 25 percent in the next 14 years.
“Last
year, Gov. Schwarzenegger called for the most aggressive action in the country on
global warming, and today he turned those words into action,” said Environment
California Global Warming Advocate Jason Barbose.
The
Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 (AB 32, Nuñez/Pavley) passed the
Legislature on August 31st after the bill’s authors, Asm. Fran
Pavley and Asm. Speaker Fabian Nuñez, and Senate President Don Perata,
announced they had reached an agreement with Gov. Schwarzenegger on the
landmark law. In June 2005, Gov. Schwarzenegger
issued an executive order that established a target for reducing global warming
pollution to 1990 levels by 2020, and 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050.
As law,
AB 32:
- Caps
global warming emissions at 1990 levels by 2020 (a 25 percent reduction);
- Establishes
a mandatory reporting program to the Air Resources Board (ARB) for significant
greenhouse gas emissions;
- Requires
ARB to adopt regulations for significant greenhouse gas emission sources
(allowing ARB to design a cap and trade program) and gives ARB the authority to
enforce the regulations beginning in 2012.
Environment
California, along with environmental groups
such as the Natural Resources Defense Council and Environmental Defense, played
a lead role in building support for the historic law. Over the course of the campaign, Environment
California had numerous meetings with legislators and other government
officials, released four reports, organized over a dozen press conferences,
spoke with 220,500 Californians about global warming, and delivered 30,000
postcards from citizens to Gov. Schwarzenegger.
“We
applaud the Governor and leaders in the Legislature for taking a giant leap
forward in addressing one of the most important issues we face,” added Barbose. “California is going to flex its muscles on
global warming and set a precedent for the rest of the country to follow.”
