The law, passed in 2002, requires the California Air Resources Board to develop the nation’s first requirements to restrict global warming emissions from cars. During his initial run for office, Governor Schwarzenegger promised to implement the law.
According
to a July 2004 survey by the Public Policy Institute of California, 81
percent of California voters support the law. The 109,000 public
comments collected in support of the law were more than had been
previously submitted on any other environmental issue in recent memory.
Then-Secretary of the California Environmental Protection Agency, Terry
Tamminen, accepted the public comments on behalf of Governor
Schwarzenegger in a public ceremony on September 21, 2004.
Environment California Research & Policy Center Clean Air Advocate Sujatha Jahagirdar and a dozen small children delivered the comments in mailbags they pulled in small red wagons. Media outlets in attendance included the Los Angeles Times, the Sacramento Bee, the San Jose Mercury News and KCRA-TV 3 (Sacramento).
Two
days later, Jahagirdar testified at the California Air Resources Board
hearing regarding this enormous display of public support for curbing
global warming emissions.
Later that day, the
Air Resources Board adopted strong regulations that will fully
implement California’s Greenhouse Gas Emissions law.
Finding solutions for reducing pollution
Throughout the fall of 2004, Environment California Research &
Policy Center also used research to demonstrate concrete solutions that
would allow Governor Schwarzenegger to keep his promise to cut air
pollution 50 percent by 2010.
Our report, Clean Air for California: Reducing Air Pollution 50 Percent
by 2010, explored the relative efficacy of a variety of initiatives
that would help the state meet the governor’s clean air goals.
