Initiative Underway To Suspend California's Global Warming Act

California's Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006, or AB 32, is known throughout the U.S. as being the landmark state legislation that addresses climate change. It is the target of an initiative that aims to suspend it unless unemployment drops.

1 minute read

February 8, 2010, 9:00 AM PST

By Irvin Dawid


AB 32 requires CA to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020. The so-called 'jobs initiative would suspend the law "until the state's jobless rate dips to 5.5% or below for a year. That's a level that California has not seen since 2007. California has one of the nation's highest unemployment rates: 12.4%."

"Republican politicians and conservative activists are launching a ballot campaign...in what they hope will serve as a showcase for a national backlash against climate regulations.

The official wording of the initiative, however, lies in the hands of Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown, an outspoken advocate of AB 32 and a presumptive Democratic candidate for governor. On Wednesday, his office discarded the "jobs initiative" title in favor of an unwieldy (substitute).

Noting the Wall Street Journal's recent endorsement of the initiative, environmentalists worry that money from around the country will pour into the effort."

Thanks to Phil Wheeler

Saturday, February 6, 2010 in Los Angeles Times

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