Business and environmental groups argued Thursday over whether California's plan to fight global warming will be a boon or a burden for the economy and low-income communities.
More than 200 people from around the state signed up to testify at the final public hearing on the Air Resources Board's proposal for cutting climate-warming emissions to 1990 levels by 2020, as required under a 2006 state law.
The strategy, first released in June, would get most of those cuts by mandating large improvements in energy efficiency as well as rapid expansion of the state's renewable power capacity. It also calls for a market for buying and selling the right to produce greenhouse gases – a so-called cap and trade system.
The air board is scheduled to approve a final version of the framework at its meeting Dec. 11-12 in Sacramento. State regulators will spend the next two years filling in the details, with most policies taking effect in 2012 or later.
By cutting power and fuel bills and fostering a green-tech industry, the plan should ultimately deliver billions of dollars in net economic benefit, according to the state's analysis.
But the transition to a lower-carbon economy carries uncertain costs – a point several business leaders emphasized Thursday.
"They don't tell us how we get there," said Edwin Lombard, a board member of the California Black Chamber of Commerce, in an interview.
Environmental groups, along with some business and venture capital interests, argue that efficiency improvements have been shown to pay off quickly.
"This is not an experiment. This is pretty straightforward stuff," said James Fine, an economist with the Environmental Defense Fund, in an interview.
The cap-and-trade proposal also drew criticism Thursday. Groups representing low-income and minority groups have united to oppose it altogether, arguing that a market would tend to concentrate polluting industries in their communities. At noon Thursday, about 100 activists rallied outside the air board headquarters.
The crafting of the state's plan is being watched across the country and may serve as a model for federal greenhouse-gas strategies. Indeed, air board Chairwoman Mary Nichols is rumored to be a candidate to head the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency under President-elect Barack Obama.
Call The Bee's Jim Downing, (916) 321-1065.
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