We commend British Prime Minister Tony Blair and
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger for their commitments to take action to stop
global warming. Combined, California and
Great
Britain can make a world of a difference on this most critical
environmental issue.
Further, as the 6th largest economy in the
world and the 12th largest greenhouse gas polluter,
California has not only the opportunity to make a
difference but an obligation to take action today to stop global warming.
However, the ticket to success in fighting global
warming is establishing a mandatory, verifiable and enforceable cap on global
warming pollution that will reduce greenhouse gas pollution to at least 1990
levels by 2020.
While Great
Britain has adopted a mandatory cap on global pollution,
California has yet to do so. Legislation moving
through the California legislature entitled The Global Warming Solutions Act of
2006 (AB 32), authored by Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez and Assembly Member Fran
Pavley, would establish such a cap and give the California Environmental
Protection Agency (CALEPA) and California Air Resources Board, an agency within
CALEPA, the authority to enforce the cap and ensure its
success.
At the end of the day,
California first and foremost needs to establish a
law requiring the state’s biggest polluters to cut their global warming
pollution by 25% by 2020 in a way that is mandatory, verifiable and enforceable.
Without that, promises to do something about global warming are nothing more
than a lot of hot air.
