California Committee Blocks Effort to Halt Climate Change Regulation
California legislation sponsored by Assemblyman Dan Logue (R) that would have suspended implementation of global warming legislation (A.B. 32) in the State was rejected on Jan. 11 by the California Assembly Natural Resources Committee. Specifically, the bill would have suspended the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 (A.B. 32) until the state's unemployment rate dropped to 5.5 percent. The current unemployment rate in the state is 12.3 percent.
A.B. 32 requires the state to cut greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020, and according to Assemblyman Logue, is already having a devastating impact on the economy. The bill also would have prevented the state from acting on any regulations that have been adopted before January 2011 and would have urged local agencies to refrain from adopting climate change rules. Notwithstanding the defeat, the assemblyman is currently working to obtain inclusion of a question on the 2010 California ballot that would accomplish the same result as the bill.