THE HOT HOUSE

March 06, 2008

D+ for state "report card" on CO2 cuts

After missing a March 1 deadline, the Schwarzenegger administration has posted a report card on how state agencies are doing in reducing greenhouse gases.

The report card was required by a budget trailer bill, SB 85, which this blog covered last May. The bill was aimed at ensuring that all state agencies are making progress in reducing emissions, either in their own operations or in sectors of the economy they oversee.

It also required each agency to prepare "a list and timetable for adoption of any additional measures needed to meet GHG emission reduction targets" and that the overall report card be submitted in "a clear, standardized format" and placed on an agency Web site.

So how did the state perform?

I would give this report card a D+.

It met the minimum requirement of the law, showing the planned activities to reduce greenhouse gases, with some information on how those activities would meet targets. But there are a lot of TBDs -- "to be determined" -- in this report card. For instance, the Department of General Services has several TBDs for programs to reduce emissions from vehicle fleets.

If California is going to require industries to attempt expensive cuts in greenhouse emissions, the state should at least be transparent in what it is doing to meet the same targets. This week's report card falls short, and lawmakers should demand more.

Posted by Stuart Leavenworth at 03:50 PM | Comments

October 09, 2007

Governor to sign flood bills; Will they be enough?

Informed sources tell me that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger tomorrow will sign the complete package of bills aimed at reforming planning of future development in Central Valley floodplains.

This package includes Assembly Bills 5, 70, 156 and 162, and Senate Bills 5 and 17.

The cornerstone of this package is SB/AB 5, which would prompt local governments to set up assessment districts and have levee work underway by 2015 to achieve 200-year flood protection, or face restrictions on new development in floodplains.

As The Bee said in a Sept. 9 editorial:

"This approach has strengths and shortcomings. On the plus side, it tells local governments: If you want to urbanize in the floodplain, you have to help pay for it and plan for a high level of protection...

"On the downside, the measure does little to prevent cities and counties from adding new homes to floodplains until the year 2015. That means that the state's potential legal exposure for flood damages could continue to skyrocket, with more lives and property put needlessly at risk."

In an attempt to ease that concern, the governor will reportedly sign Assembly Bill 70, by Dave Jones of Sacramento. This bill requires cities and counties to share legal liabilities with the state for new development built in floodplains up until 2015, when the "hammer" of SB/AB 5 is scheduled to take effect. Jones hopes it will prompt cities and counties to make wiser decisions about floodplain development, for fear of increasing their legal exposure.

Given the possibility that climate change will bring the Valley even more extreme storms in coming years, it's disappointing this flood package isn't stronger, with safeguards that take effect immediately.

Lawmakers had an opportunity to ensure that new housing didn't go into areas KNOWN to have less than 100-year flood protection. They backed off largely because of of opposition from builders and local governments.

The governor's signing of AB 70 -- which was opposed by cities and counties -- makes the package stronger than it might have been otherwise. But lawmakers may regret they missed this opportunity, especially if a Pineapple Express storm hammers the valley before 2015 and inundates homes in areas that are now undeveloped.

Sacramento Bee Photo by Skip Shuman, showing 1986 flooding of Linda following a break in the Yuba River levee.

Posted by Stuart Leavenworth at 06:38 PM | Comments

October 01, 2007

As Schwarzenegger greens his image, the bills come due

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger added another feather to his cap-and-trade hat last week when he urged a United Nations Conference to go beyond Kyoto, stop the finger pointing and push ahead with "action, action action" on fighting global warming.

Now now he is hearing those same words come back to him as he prepares to decide the fate of numerous energy and environmental bills on his desk. Environmentalists are pressing him for "action, action, action" on the bills, some of which have been labeled as "job killers" by the California Chamber of Commerce.

The governor has until October 15 to decide: Is he a job killer? Or a governor who panders to groups who use goofy labels like "job killer?"

Probably the most high-profile legislation is Senate Bill 210, by Christine Kehoe, D-San Diego, which would require the Air Resources Board to adopt a Low-Carbon Fuel Standard similar to what the governor has proposed in an executive order. Both would require a 10 percent reduction in greenhouse gases from automotive fuels and both are controversial.

The oil industry has questioned whether such a low-carbon fuels mandate would drive up consumer costs and is based on faulty assumptions about the speed in which biofuels can be brought to market. Democrats want to strengthen the standard by making it a law instead of just an executive order (which could be reversed by a future governor). They also want stronger assurances that development of biofuels won't cause adverse impacts to water supplies, agriculture and the environment.

Another hot potato is Assembly Bill 118, by Speaker Fabian Nunez. AB 118 would place fees on car registration, boat registration and other sources to raise funds for clean air programs and research into alternative energies. The bill was rewritten days before the Legislature adjourned. Some Senators didn't like the result and question whether it might allow energy companies to apply for the research funds. But the bill still has wide support from environmental groups (and some energy companies) and faces formal opposition only from anti-tax groups.

Supporters of greener building standards have three bills they want the governor to sign. All are opposed by business groups. They are AB 888 (Lieu), AB 1058 (Laird) and AB 35 (Ruskin). Schwarzenegger has issued an executive order encouraging green building standards for state construction, but these bill would go far beyond that by set tougher standards for commercial buildings and residential construction.

Some of the other energy and climate related bills include AB 1470 (Huffman) would would create a $250 million incentive program for installation of solar water heaters, and AB 1613, which would create a PUC pilot program for help homeowners finance combined heat and power systems in their homes.

Next year, Schwarzenegger may face a larger slew of climate related legislation, since some was sidetracked last year. One of the biggies is SB 375, which would encourage regional governments to shrink their footprint as a way to contain vehicle emissions from spread-out development patterns. Sen. Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, says he held it back because of opposition from the California League of Cities.

SB 974 could also come back. That's a bill that would impose fees on shipping containers to pay for clean up of air pollution at the state's ports. The governor urged author Alan Lowenthal, D-Long Beach, to hold up the bill so a deal could be worked out. If a deal can't be struck, Lowenthal will surely try again. His constituents in Long Beach are fed up breathing port diesel fumes so Wal-Mart customers can pay cheap prices for Chinese lead-paint toys.

Schwarzenegger is a Republican -- one who is trying to both woo party leaders while challenging them on certain issues. So it will be interesting to see if he signs any of the above bills, and which ones. My guess is he might sign the low-carbon fuel bill, and claim it as his own, as he did with AB 32 -- the outgrowth of one of his executive orders. But he may pass on AB 118, since he already is in hot water with tax groups for supporting higher "fees" to pay for health care reform.

Update: As of Monday, Oct. 8, 5 pm, the governor still hadn't acted on the above-mentioned bills. As of that time, Schwarzenegger had signed 354 and vetoed 15 bills, leaving 596 bills remaining on his desk. He has until midnight on October 14 to act on all remaining legislation.

Sacramento Bee Photo/John Decker

Posted by Stuart Leavenworth at 05:04 PM | Comments