ARB Climate Change Plan Criticized By Both Sides

On Oct 15 the California Air Resources Board released its final 142-page proposal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020. It "incorporated more than 40,000 public comments and is scheduled to go before the Air Resources Board for approval in December.

The plan drew praise from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and at least one influential environmental group that called it not just "a pollution reduction plan ... (but) an economic stimulus plan."

"The June draft report recommended land use policies that would trim emissions from new development by 2 million metric tons by 2020. The final report upped the total to 5 million metric tons. One group, however, advocated for even bigger cuts, on the order of 11 million to 14 million metric tons."

"Growing smarter and increasing public transportation will not only fight global warming, it will also reduce traffic, improve community health, save energy and help grow our local economy," Jake Mackenzie, mayor of Rohnert Park and vice chair of government relations for the Local Government Commission, said in a statement. "But we'll reap the rewards only if we set a high bar.

From LA Times:
"California's plan was immediately attacked by a coalition of businesses, led by the California Manufacturers and Technology Assn. and the California Chamber of Commerce, which said the rules would result in "billions of dollars of increased energy costs." The group asserted that the plan would raise electricity rates by 11%, natural gas rates by 8% and gasoline costs by $11 billion a year."