California’s Global Warming Leadership: A Win For Green Vehicles, Jobs and Oil Independence

By Bill Haller, Sierra Club California Activist

On April 1st the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in cooperation with the California Air Resources Board will release the first-ever national greenhouse gas standards for passenger vehicles. If you’re still waking up to the first few sips of your morning coffee, you may want to read that first sentence over again.

It boggles the mind. To cut greenhouse gases, create real jobs, reduce our oil dependency and in the process, better secure our nation, the Obama administration, U.S. EPA, the National Highway Transportation and Safety Administration and Cal EPA through CARB put their heads together to come up with new standards for auto emissions for 2016 and beyond.

Me, I’m flabbergasted because for the last two decades the needle has barely moved on national fuel efficiency standards. Now it’s going to be set at 35 mpg. Somebody pinch me.

As a 52 year-old dad of two young kids (Little League for him, ballet and tap for her), a consumer (18 mpg when we roll the family van in neutral down a hill) and a Sierra Club volunteer (one of 150,000 treehuggers in California), I want to have the option to purchase a greener vehicle like a plug in hybrid or a battery electric vehicle. But what I really want is a cleaner, greener and more prosperous future for my kids. I know it sounds weird for me to say, but thanks to my government, that future is now more a reality than ever before. Oh, c’mon, you knew Detroit and Big Oil were never going to do it on their own.

Getting rid of harmful greenhouse gases is not only good for our environment but it also guarantees that all Americans benefit from clean breathable air including our elderly, the infirm, you, me, the kids. We save money at the gas pump, reduce our dangerous dependence on oil, create new jobs and ensure California’s global leadership in advancing technology for greener vehicles. According to the Public Policy Institute of California, passenger vehicles are responsible for over 70 percent of greenhouse gas pollution in our state. With about 30 million cars tooling around California’s freeways every day, that is why these new federal standards for greener vehicles are so important.

Happy? Me too.

Let's Energize The Debate!

If California competed in an Olympic event for renewable power generation, we’d only take fifth place!

That’s what our allies at Environment California announced today at the State Capitol. We’re joining them in their call for the California Legislature to power up its efforts to pass a renewable portfolio standards bill that would call for a full third of California’s power to come from renewable sources by the year 2020.

Currently, utilities must generate at least 20% of their electricity from renewable resources such as solar, geothermal and wind power by 2010. Last month, Sierra Club California wrote Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, asking him to work toward a 33% standard.

Schwarzenegger has joined the team of allies trying to hurdle California’s renewable generation capacity toward 33%. Speaking for him, California Energy Commissioner Karen Douglas joined a panel that also included representatives of the Center for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Technologies; the Union of Concerned Scientists; Environmental Defense Fund and a score of environmental, public health and environmental justice groups.

Raisng the bar for renewables would pay off across a number of issue areas, the groups agree.

"Increasing the renewable portfolio standard would lower greenhouse gas emissions, clean our air and create an estimated 200,000 new jobs for Californians," says Jim Metropulos, Sierra Club California's Senior Advocate.

A 33% renewable portfolio standard should be a top priority for the Legislature, the group agreed.

“If developing renewable energy were an Olympic sport, California surprisingly wouldn’t even win a bronze medal,” said Bernadette Del Chiaro, clean energy advocate for Environment California. “It is high time California gets back in the race by upping our mandate and commitment to removing barriers to renewable energy.”

PHOTO: CEERT's V. John White answers a reporter's question as representatives from Environment California, Sierra Club California and other groups back him.

Another Bush Administration Global Warming Delay?

As California takes on global warming by setting real targets for pollution reduction, the Bush administration continues to drag its feet.

Remember how the U.S. Supreme Court told the federal government it must act to stop the pollution that causes climate change? Well, as predicted earlier this week by the San Francisco Chronicle, the Bush administration will continue to defy the Court today by issuing a request for additional comments — an "Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking"— on global warming regulations, rather than the so-called "endangerment determination" that the Court's ruling in Massachusetts v. EPA compelled and that senior Environmental Protection Agency officials had argued for.

Today's Washington Post details the tireless efforts of senior political appointees in the administration to prevent global warming regulations from being in put in place under President Bush... the same President Bush who this week called global warming a "serious problem."

David Bookbinder, Sierra Club's Chief Climate Counsel and the attorney who's defending California's Clean Car Law, had this to say about the Bush administration's latest delay in addressing global warming:

"Today's action caps off eight years of catastrophic negligence on the part
of an increasingly irrelevant administration, and removes whatever shadow of a
doubt that may have existed about whether it was going to fail to live up to its
obligations to the American public, the law, and the Supreme Court to do
something real on global warming.

"The American public, Congress, world leaders, and even career government
officials are counting down the days until this administration leaves town and a
new president undoes the damage done by President Bush and makes up for nearly a decade of lost time — time we didn't have to waste in the first place. And the
first thing the next administration will do is toss the Advanced Notice of
Proposed Rulemaking into the circular file.

"Stephen Johnson should have left his post long ago, but today's action underscores his complete and utter lack of credibility. Johnson will be remembered not for his decades of public service, but rather for his unswerving fealty to the misguided policies of a failed administration.

"This global warming melodrama has all the set pieces of classic Bush administration political theater: politics coming before science, outright deception of the American public and Congressional investigators, willful disregard for the law and courts, and political meddling at the highest levels to protect favored special interests--with the dark hand of the Vice President visible throughout. Thankfully this drama is near the end of its final act."

Automakers: Don't Be "Climate Chickens"

Today, members of the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers met with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, as part of their campaign to thwart our state’s pioneering greenhouse gas emissions standards.

Sierra Club California thanks Governor Schwarzenegger, Attorney General Brown and Air Resources Board Chair Nichols for bravely and staunchly upholding California’s clean car rules. Sierra Club California's "Climate Chicken" made a brief appearance at the Capitol, urging the automakers to cross the road to better

Putting the brakes on California’s Clean Car Law AB 1493 (Pavley) rules won't lower the price that families pay at the pump, and it won't reduce global warming pollution. Only cleaner, more efficient cars will.



Here's why even Climate Chickens should support the Clean Car Law:

• Climate Chickens Are Larger Than Life, and California’s plan creates even bigger reductions in greenhouse gases than the Bush Administration’s proposed fuel economy standards. If all 50 states were to take on the greenhouse gas goals, 1,323 million metric tons of greenhouse gas would be removed by 2020.
  
• California’s Climate Plan Saves More Than A Little Chicken Scratch. The greenhouse gas standards may mean consumers must pay a little more up front for their cars, but they’ll get their money back within about 1-3.5 years, according to California Air Resources Board estimates. The upgrades actually will reduce these vehicles’ operating costs, resulting in savings to drivers.
  
  
• Climate Chickens Crave The Easy Life. And the greenhouse gas standards start out easy too. In fact, the first phase can be met using technology that’s already in some of today’s cars. Not just hybrids, either – some advanced starter technology, idle-stop technology, upgrades to the electrical system and other smart moves would make cars cleaner.
  
• Climate Chickens Get All The Chicks. The new rules are popular too: A 2004 Public Policy Institute of California poll found a whopping 81 percent of Californians support the vehicle greenhouse gas standards, and more than 112,000 of us sent letters supporting adoption of the rules. Climate Chickens breathe easier knowing their hatchlings will enjoy a clean atmosphere.
  
• Climate Chickens Like Choices. Our climate chicken just can’t be cowed. And the greenhouse gas rules don’t tell him what kind of car he can buy, how fast he can drive it or that he has to pay a tax. Automakers say the law will limit Californians’ choices, but simple modifications such as stop-start technology, continuously variable transmission systems and even better A/C equipment will go a long way toward reducing greenhouse gas emissions from every vehicle.
  
• Climate Chickens Have Feather Brains, but even Chester here can see what’s coming. Sales of the hybrid, fuel-miser Toyota Prius have risen more than 50 percent since April, while SUV sales plummeted by 25 percent. And California drivers bought 4 percent less gas in January than they did the year before (see May 2 New York Times article, “As Gas Costs Soar, Buyers Flock to Small Cars”).

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger telling the automakers he'll stick to his guns on global warming

Read what Sierra Club California Director Bill Magavern has to say about the hard work ahead on climate change

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Bush Administration Sets Global Warming Roadblock

Sierra Club California Director Bill Magavern speaks out on the Bush administration’s illegal proposed roadblock for California’s greenhouse gas tailpipe emissions rule:

Yesterday was Earth Day. Unfortunately, President George W. Bush’s administration chose the occasion to give a present to the auto companies by rolling out an illegal proposal – buried in federal gas mileage regulations – that would bar California from enforcing its greenhouse gas vehicle emissions standards.

This proposed rule would damage California’s ability to protect our health and safety and our climate by reducing emissions from personal vehicles. Sierra Club has fought along with Attorney General Jerry Brown, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the California Legislature to protect California’s Clean Cars law (AB 1493 – Pavley), since it’s such an important part of our efforts to roll back greenhouse gas pollution in our state and in the 17 other states that seek to follow our standards.

It seems like the Bush Administration treats California the way Lucy treats Charlie Brown in the comic strip “Peanuts.” Every time we try to move the ball forward, to protect our climate and our air, the administration snatches it away with another dishonest act.

Read more about the proposed national fuel standards here.

Plug-in Hybrids Can Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Transportation

Zack Subin spoke yesterday at the Air Resources Board’s seminar series of his efforts to catalogue and analyze the various opportunities to reduce air pollution in California transportation. A Ph.D. candidate at UC Berkeley, Subin’s main work involved the collection and categorization of dozens of studies and their data sets. Subin presented his many conclusions about possible ways to reduce emissions from personal and commercial road travel.

Always keeping in mind the marketability of each technology, Subin thinks that Plug-in Hybrid Energy Vehicles offer the best available route to reduce our carbon emissions, eliminate our need for foreign oil, and save consumers money. What plug-ins offer now is the ability to drive an average sedan or SUV 15 to 40 miles on a single charge. After commuting to and from work the consumer would plug a hybrid into a normal electric socket and by the next morning have the vehicle fully charged and ready to drive. Even if you exhaust the battery there is still the gasoline available to power the engine and recharge the battery. This is what he thinks is applicable in the short-term only. After the year 2020 we will have even more technologies available to further reduce greenhouse gases and help alleviate global climate change.

ETAAC Approves A Greener Future

Meeting today, the Economic and Technology Advancement Advisory Committee (ETAAC) approved a new draft of its report on the promotion of new technologies and economic activities that will guarantee a low carbon future for California. Created by the California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006, also known as AB 32, ETAAC aims to facilitate investment in and implementation of technological research and development opportunities. This year the California Air Resources Board will adopt a master plan for cutting greenhouse gas emissions; this effort will require replacing our old and polluting energy infrastructure with greener alternatives. At the request of Sierra Club California and Californians Against Waste, the committee added several sections on improving waste management techniques and dramatically increasing recycling efforts. Both Sierra Club California and ETACC agreed that improved recycling and composting and better management of landfills would significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Click HERE to see the newest version of ETAAC's draft document.

Assembly Runs out of Gas on Clean Car Bill

The Assembly left town yesterday after deciding on the fate of its remaining bills that had not cleared the house last year. The Assembly went out with a whimper, failing to pass AB 493, Ira Ruskin's innovative proposal to give consumers discounts on cleaner vehicles, paid for by surcharges on the more polluting cars and trucks. With no Republican support at all, and with too many Democratic lawmakers unwilling to cast a vote against the powerful auto dealer lobby, the bill lacked the necessary votes, and was never even brought up on the floor.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20080130/news_1n30gas.html