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.

White House Launches America's Great Outdoors Initiative

Sierra Club Urges Administration to Get Kids Outside, Help Wildlife Adapt to Global Warming

Washington, D.C. - Tomorrow, the White House will kick off a new initiative aimed at changing the way America's public lands are managed. Sierra Club is calling on the Obama administration to use the initiative as an opportunity to address two key challenges: Introducing more children, especially children of color, to America's public lands, and addressing the growing threat of global warming to wildlife and wild places.

Following the event on Friday, the administration is expected to launch a series of public "listening sessions" around the nation that will allow Americans to weigh in on how federal agencies manage our national forests, rivers, and parks.

Statement of Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune:

We applaud President Obama, Secretary Salazar, Secretary Vilsack, and Chair Sutley for launching the Great Outdoors initiative. This initiative offers an unprecedented opportunity to change the way we manage our public lands. Protecting our wild legacy in the face of climate change, and engaging the next generation of conservationists should be central to this effort.

Global warming poses a threat to wildlife and habitat unlike anything we've seen before. If we hope to pass on a wild legacy to future generations, we need to address the challenge of climate change head-on. We need to create connectivity between landscapes that will allow animals like grizzly bears and panthers to migrate and adapt. We can increase the odds that wildlife will survive global warming by reducing other hurdles, like irresponsible oil and gas development. Protecting forests and wetlands also helps clean the air, store carbon, and fight global warming.

As we work to protect our wild legacy, we also need to ensure that we cultivate the next generation of conservationists who will act as good stewards of our outdoor heritage. Our public lands provide an opportunity to build health and happiness among our children. Studies show that when children spend time outdoors, they benefit both physically and academically. Introducing youth and underserved communities to America's Great Outdoors should be a top priority for this administration.

Solutions the Sierra Club has proposed as part of the Great Outdoors Initiative include:

*Implement climate-smart management that protects and restores natural ecosystems, with an emphasis on ten key ecosystems identified by Sierra Club: http://www.sierraclub.org/habitat/ecoregions/

*Protect large core areas from development and connect habitat by protecting migration corridors

*Ensure adequate funding for federal, state, tribal and private-land conservation and wildlife adaptation measures

*Limit non-climate hurdles wildlife face, such as irresponsible oil and gas development.

*Protect old-growth forests and roadless areas on public lands that sequester carbon and help mitigate the effects of climate change.
*Set aside funding to engage young children in outdoor activities and employ older youth through a 21st Century Conservation Corps that will help train youth for good, sustainable jobs in conservation.

*Reach deep into communities to engage young people of color to ensure a more diverse and representative next generation of the conservation movement.

*The Interior Department and Forest Service should team up with health agencies to connect kids with the great outdoors as one solution to the obesity crisis.

*Establish a Presidential Council on Americans and the Great Outdoors to advise the President and offer policy recommendations to address the growing disconnect between Americans and the Great Outdoors.

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Oliver Bernstein

Senior Communications Strategist

Sierra Club

Phone: 512.477.2152

Cell: 512.289.8618

Obama Unveils New Offshore Drilling Strategy

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 31, 2010
CONTACT: Kristina Johnson, 415.977.5619
Josh Dorner, 202.679.7570


Washington, D.C.- In a speech today, President Obama unveiled his new strategy on offshore drilling, which will keep some sensitive coastal areas open for drilling, including the Arctic's Chukchi and Beaufort seas which are of concern because they provide important habitat for polar bears, whales, and other marine life. Much of the South and Mid-Atlantic coasts will also remain open. The new plans will leave Alaska's Bristol Bay off-limits to drilling.

Statement of Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune

"We're very disappointed to see important areas like the Arctic coast and the Mid and South Atlantic stay open to oil drilling.

"What we need is bold, decisive steps towards clean energy, like the new clean cars regulations announced this week--not more dirty, expensive offshore drilling.

"The oil industry already has access to drilling on millions of acres of America's public lands and water. We don't need to hand over our last protected pristine coastal areas just so oil companies can break more profit records.

"Drilling areas like the Arctic threatens marine life like whales and polar bears. Where there is offshore drilling, there is a constant danger of oil spills. One oil spill is all it takes to destroy a coastal tourism economy and the jobs that depend on it.

"Drilling our coasts will doing nothing to lower gas prices or create energy independence. It will only jeopardize beaches, marine life, and coastal tourist economies, all so the oil industry can make a short-term profit.

"President Obama has taken important steps to combat global warming pollution and reduce our dependence on fossil fuels. Our nation's increasing investment in clean energy and efficiency measures make drilling in sensitive coastal areas even more unnecessary.

"There's no reason to drill our coasts. We can achieve real energy independence and economic vitality by investing in clean energy like wind and solar and efficiency. This kind of power creates good, lasting American jobs and positions our nation to become a global leader in the new clean energy economy."

Obama Unveils New Offshore Drilling Strategy

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 31, 2010
CONTACT: Kristina Johnson, 415.977.5619
Josh Dorner, 202.679.7570


Washington, D.C.- In a speech today, President Obama unveiled his new strategy on offshore drilling, which will keep some sensitive coastal areas open for drilling, including the Arctic's Chukchi and Beaufort seas which are of concern because they provide important habitat for polar bears, whales, and other marine life. Much of the South and Mid-Atlantic coasts will also remain open. The new plans will leave Alaska's Bristol Bay off-limits to drilling.

Statement of Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune

"We're very disappointed to see important areas like the Arctic coast and the Mid and South Atlantic stay open to oil drilling.

"What we need is bold, decisive steps towards clean energy, like the new clean cars regulations announced this week--not more dirty, expensive offshore drilling.

"The oil industry already has access to drilling on millions of acres of America's public lands and water. We don't need to hand over our last protected pristine coastal areas just so oil companies can break more profit records.

"Drilling areas like the Arctic threatens marine life like whales and polar bears. Where there is offshore drilling, there is a constant danger of oil spills. One oil spill is all it takes to destroy a coastal tourism economy and the jobs that depend on it.

"Drilling our coasts will doing nothing to lower gas prices or create energy independence. It will only jeopardize beaches, marine life, and coastal tourist economies, all so the oil industry can make a short-term profit.

"President Obama has taken important steps to combat global warming pollution and reduce our dependence on fossil fuels. Our nation's increasing investment in clean energy and efficiency measures make drilling in sensitive coastal areas even more unnecessary.

"There's no reason to drill our coasts. We can achieve real energy independence and economic vitality by investing in clean energy like wind and solar and efficiency. This kind of power creates good, lasting American jobs and positions our nation to become a global leader in the new clean energy economy."

Poll Shows Voters Ready to Flush $11 Billion Water Bond in November

SACRAMENTO, Feb. 18 – A majority of California voters oppose the $11.1 billion water bond that the Legislature and the Governor have placed on the November ballot, according to a recent statewide poll conducted by Tulchin Research.

Just one-third of likely voters (34%) support the water bond currently, while more than a majority of likely voters (55%) oppose it. That’s a very weak start for a bond measure, and some of the existing support is likely to drop off as a campaign against the bond ramps up later this year, in the view of opponents of the bond, who released the survey results today. (Please see the attached memo from Tulchin Research for more.)

"Voters recognize this bond as bad water policy and bad fiscal policy at a time when California is drowning in red ink," said Jim Metropulos, Senior Advocate with Sierra Club California, part of the campaign opposing the bond measure. "We need clean water and we need a better water policy, but this bond is not going to get us there."

Pollster Ben Tulchin, who conducted the survey, called the results daunting.

"The challenge for backers of this bond is monumental," said Tulchin. “No statewide bond measure has ever won when a majority of voters opposed it at the outset.”

Support was weak in the poll, even among those voting yes, with just 12% saying they would “definitely” vote yes and 4% saying they merely “leaned” in favor. In contrast, there was greater intensity on the "no" side, with a third of all voters polled (32%) saying they would “definitely” vote no.

"This bond hands out billions of dollars to corporations and other special interests at the expense of California taxpayers," said Adam Scow, California Campaigns Director with consumer rights group Food & Water Watch. "It's no surprise that support for the bond is already weak. We expect voters to reject it in November."

A number of prominent environmental, consumer, and environmental justice organizations have already joined the campaign opposing the bond, including the Sierra Club, Clean Water Action, Planning and Conservation League, Friends of the River, Food & Water Watch, the Environmental Justice Coalition for Water, the Winnemem Wintu tribe, California Sportfishing Protection Alliance, California Water Impact Network (C-WIN), Southern California Watershed Alliance, and Restore the Delta.

“We are encouraged to see that voters across California share our view that this bond is a bad deal for taxpayers,” said Tina Andolina, Legislative Director for the Planning and Conservation League.

Andolina noted that cross-tabulated results from the poll show opposition across party and geographic lines. “No demographic group anywhere in the state offers majority support for the bond,” said Andolina. “Voters of all parties oppose it, as do voters in the northern and southern parts of the state and the Central Valley.”

Opponents note that the bond does not provide immediate funding to municipalities or conservation efforts. Low-income communities, many of which live with contaminated drinking water, would receive only a tiny fraction of total bond funds.

In contrast, up to $4 billion of taxpayers’ investment could be used to subsidize large corporate interests, including agribusinesses, that will profit from the projects. $3 billion can be used to construct new dams, and as much as $1 billion can subsidize costly private desalination projects.
Campaign members point out that money to finance the bond will come out of California’s general fund, which also funds education, healthcare, police and fire, and other essential services. The hit on the general fund would be enormous, as much as $800 million per year. Total debt repayment on the bond is expected to top $22 billion over 30 years.

“Instead of building projects we don’t need, we should be fixing local drinking water systems and taking other steps to ensure a safe, reliable water supply for California,” said Scow of Food & Water Watch. “Voters are already signaling that they know this bond is the wrong approach at the wrong time.”

SIERRA CLUB CALIFORNIA STATEMENT ON GOV. SCHWARZENEGGER’S STATE-OF-THE-STATE ADDRESS

Governor Schwarzenegger took one step toward a green economy and one step back with today’s state-of-the-state address.

By proposing a sales tax exemption for clean-tech manufacturing equipment, the Governor recognized that green jobs can lead our economic recovery. California’s pioneering standards on zero-emission vehicles and renewable energy can attract new jobs to our state.

But his proposal to exempt up to 28 private projects from community challenge under the California Environmental Quality Act represents backward thinking. CEQA provides people in the communities surrounding a proposed project a chance to see the details of a project, the potential alternatives and mitigation measures that would ameliorate the significant impacts of the project on public health, living conditions and the environment. Local people often have excellent knowledge of local conditions, and can make good suggestions for improvement of project design or the most cogent arguments why a project is wholly inappropriate for a particular location. This bill would completely undermine – for the projects it covers -- the ability of local residents to have a real say in what happens to their community, and essentially transfer local land use decisions to a single state agency. Bad planning will hinder, not help, our economic recovery, and we applaud Senate President pro tem Steinberg for saying that there is no need for this legislation.

Bill Magavern, Director, Sierra Club California

SIERRA CLUB CALIFORNIA’S 2009 REPORT CARD REVEALS BACKSLIDING BY GOVERNOR AND LEGISLATURE

Sierra Club California today published its 2009 Legislative Report Card, exposing a significant deterioration in the performance of Governor Schwarzenegger and the Legislature. "Billionaire developers and fossil-fuel polluters cynically manipulated California’s economic distress to weaken protections for our air, water, and wild places, and our elected officials too often went along," commented Bill Magavern, Director of Sierra Club California.

The report card grades legislators on their votes on 15 bills, chosen for their importance to Sierra Club California. Only five legislators – Senators Corbett, Hancock and Wiggins and Assemblymembers Monning and Skinner -- voted the pro-environment position on all 15, way down from the 42 legislators who scored perfect records last year. 13 of those 15 bills reached Schwarzenegger’s desk, and he sided with the pro-environment position on only two of those.

"Most Californians know that greening our economy with clean energy, safe products and resource preservation will bring us sustainable jobs," Magavern said. "Unfortunately, too many of our politicians are listening more to the money that talks in the Capitol. Weakening environmental safeguards promotes short term profits without stimulating real economic recovery. These rollbacks threaten the health of our children and grandchildren as well as the natural legacy our predecessors handed to us in trust for future generations."

Legislation that would have greened our energy system, preserved our parks and coast, cleaned the air and water, and removed toxins from products either fell short of the needed votes in the legislature or suffered vetoes from Governor Schwarzenegger. Utilities, oil, logging and chemical companies, and big developers poured millions of dollars into lobbying, advertising and campaign contributions in their efforts to thwart Californians’ desire for stronger safeguards for our wildlands, atmosphere and watersheds.

Environmental groups were forced into a defensive posture several times, as these same special interests exploited their inside influence to bypass the normal, public legislative process and jam through measures to carve loopholes in key laws like the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). In addition, the water "reform" package passed in the middle of the night included a mix of half measures and a bloated $11.1 billion water bond for the November 2010 ballot that will do little to solve the problems of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.

The entire report card and Sierra Club California’s latest CAPITOL VOICE newsletter can be found at http://www.sierraclubcalifornia.org