THE HOT HOUSE

January 31, 2008

Schwarzenegger issues sunny endorsement of McCain

After saying he would not endorse anybody a few weeks ago, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced his support for Sen. John McCain today. In an interesting twist, he used his overly hyped endorsement of McCain to draw attention to a Los Angeles company, Solar Integrated Technologies, that is growing amid the current economic downturn.

"You are creating jobs. You are protecting the environment and you are fighting global warming," the governor said, apparently hoping to draw attention to his efforts to grow the clean-tech economy.

"That is music to my ears, and it is music, I know, to Sen. McCain's ears," the governor said while standing with McCain and Rudy Giuliani at the Los Angeles company. "The future is clean technology, energy independence and green investment."

Solar Integrated specializes in solar roofing systems, and has contracts with Tesco, Toyota, Coca-Cola and other companies.

You can listen to the governor's comments here and read an account of the governor's endorsement here.

Associated Press photo

Posted by Stuart Leavenworth at 01:19 PM | Comments

Bush alone now in opposing California waiver

Much to my surprise, all the remaining GOP candidates seem to support efforts by California and other states to enact a clean cars law that reduces greenhouse emissions. That's the consensus after watching McCain, Romney, Huckabee and Paul at last night's debate hosted by CNN.

You can read the candidate's statements here in The Bee, and also in a helpful dispatch from the Grist.

CORRECTION: After making it seem like he supported California's law, Romney backtracked after the debate. His campaign issued a statement saying that carbon dioxide should be regulated federally.

Posted by Stuart Leavenworth at 10:47 AM | Comments

January 30, 2008

Will Schwarzenegger endorse McCain?

U.S. Sen. John McCain enjoyed a gator-sized boost in Florida after he earned the endorsement of Gov. Charlie Crist, a Republican governor who, like McCain, has made climate change a big part of his policy platform.

That raises the obvious question: Will Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger now endorse McCain? And why hasn't he done so already?

Of all the GOP contenders, McCain has an energy and global warming platform that is in line with that of Schwarzenegger's. The California governor seemed to be hedging his bets while Rudy Giuliani was in the race, but Rudy dropped out yesterday and endorsed McCain.

So what is Schwarzenegger waiting for?

It could well be that McCain doesn't want Schwarzenegger's endorsement as he trolls for conservative votes. Nonetheless, CNN ran a piece today speculating that Schwarzenegger may endorse McCain today or tomorrow. CNN's Wolf Blitzer is plugging an interview with the governor "coming up" at any moment.

UPDATE: Schwarzenegger didn't take the bait. Pressed by the bearded Blitzer, the governor declined to say if he will endorse McCain, or endorse anyone, before or after the Feb. 5 primary. "I have nothing to announce today," the governor said.

UPDATE #2: The Bee is reporting that Schwarzenegger is "set to endorse McCain."

Associated Press photo

Posted by Stuart Leavenworth at 03:35 PM | Comments

January 25, 2008

Romney once supported Cal's clean car law, but now...?

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney won the Michigan primary after telling his home-state voters he would oppose tougher fuel economy standards, which he claims could hurt the U.S. auto industry.

Yet while he was governor of Massachusetts, Romney and his appointees approved new motor vehicle emissions standards, modeled after California's clean car law, that effectively would force automakers to improve fuel efficiency.

They even bragged about it in a press release.

Where does Romney stand now on California's clean cars law?

The Bee queried his campaign on that question, but did not get a response. John Edwards and Barack Obama, on the other hand, provided responses. You can read their statements here in a recent editorial by The Bee.

Posted by Stuart Leavenworth at 04:18 PM | Comments

January 16, 2008

Exclusive: Schwarzenegger bummed that candidates aren't addressing climate change

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said today he is disappointed that the presidential candidates aren't addressing solutions to global warming in the ongoing primary campaign.

"I don’t hear, in a presidential debate, the question even being asked," Schwarzenegger said today in a meeting with The Sacramento Bee editorial board. "On the Democratic side it is being asked, but on the Republican side it is not being asked."

He also took a shot at the Bush administration for not doing more to reduce dependence on fossil fuels and imported oil.

"This administration has just not done it, and an extraordinary opportunity was lost because of it," the Republican governor said.

To read a transcript of the governor's comments on climate change and the presidential race, go to jump of this item.

Sacramento Bee Photo/Renee C. Byer

Continue reading "Exclusive: Schwarzenegger bummed that candidates aren't addressing climate change"

Posted by Stuart Leavenworth at 06:50 PM | Comments

January 07, 2008

Where do the presidential candidates stand on CA waiver?

Unless California can get quick action from the courts, it may have to wait until 2009 to implement a 2002 "clean cars" law for which the Bush administration has refused to grant a waiver.

That means the next president will likely decide on whether California and 16 other states can set their own standards on greenhouse gases emitted from automobiles -- effectively creating a national standard.

So where do the presidential candidates stand on granting the waiver?

As far as I can tell, that question hasn't yet been directly posed to the candidates. Hunkered down in Iowa and New Hampshire, they have been understandably focused on more high-profile matters, such as their stands on Iraq, national security and health care reform.

Nonetheless, the waiver issue deserves attention as the candidates prepare for the Feb. 5 California primary. Their positions will reveal much about how they view state-federal perogatives, and how likely they will bow to the interests of Detroit in setting environmental policies.

To that end, I sent this question last week to the campaigns of 10 leading candidates running for president:

"The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently rejected a waiver that California and 16 other states sought to implement a new law reducing greenhouse gases from automobiles sold in their states. If you were president, would you approve this waiver or reject it?"

The question is one of three The Bee editorial page sent to the campaigns as research for an upcoming special section on the primary. (The other questions involving immigration and strategies for reducing foreclosures.) All 10 candidates have a Jan. 14 deadline in which to respond. On the list were Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, John Edwards, Bill Richardson, John McCain, Mitt Romney, Rudy Guiliani, Fred Thompson, Ron Paul and Mike Huckabee.

If you want to track where the candidates stand on climate change issues in general, go to:

The Council of Foreign Relations web site
The New York Times climate chart
Grist "Compare the Candidates"

Have other sites? Lemme know.

Posted by Stuart Leavenworth at 02:48 PM | Comments

January 02, 2008

Happy New Year -- and lawsuits

Lawyers for California apparently are not suffering from any New Year's Day hangovers.

They are in federal court today in San Francisco, filing a promised lawsuit against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on its decision not to grant a waiver for California's clean cars law. SacBee has the story here.

The suit comes a few days after the EPA's general counsel ordered agency employees to assemble all documents related to the waiver decision, in response to requests from Congress. You can see the EPA's counsel's memo here, along with other documents, on the web site of the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility.

Update: Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger just released this statement:

"It is unconscionable that the federal government is keeping California and nineteen other states from adopting these standards. They are ignoring the will of millions of people who want their government to take action in the fight against global warming. That's why, at the very first legal opportunity, we're suing to reverse the U.S. EPA's wrong decision. California has always been a leader in protecting the environment, and we will do everything in our power to continue that proud tradition."

And Attorney General Jerry Brown had this to say:

"The denial letter was shocking in its incoherence and utter failure to provide legal justification for the administrator's unprecedented action," California Attorney General Brown said. "The EPA has done nothing at the national level to curb greenhouse gases and now it has wrongfully and illegally blocked California's landmark tailpipe emissions standards, despite the fact that sixteen states have moved to adopt them."

EXTRA UPDATE: The Air Resources Board today released a technical assessment to buttress the state's position that California's clean cars law would be more effective in reducing greenhouse gases than the new fuel economy standards.

By 2016, the report states, the California law would prevent a total of 58 million metric tons of CO2 from being emitted into the air as compared to 20 MMT from the new new federal standards. By 2020, the estimated reductions would be 167 MMT from the California law and 76 MMT from the California standards.

Apparently, some ARB staffers were working overtime during the holidays.

Posted by Stuart Leavenworth at 10:16 AM | Comments