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SIERRA CLUB CALIFORNIA STATEMENT ON GOV. SCHWARZENEGGER’S STATE-OF-THE-STATE ADDRESS
ONE STEP FORWARD, ONE STEP BACK
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
View Our 2009 California Legislative Report Card!
CLEANER CARS IN OUR FUTURE
2009 Also Saw Advances in Recycling and Water Conservation, Thanks to Sierra Club California’s Advocacy
Although gridlock reigned in Sacramento for much of the year, Sierra Club California’s advocacy efforts paid off in some important wins for our water, air and atmosphere.
Since 2001 we have campaigned to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases from passenger vehicles, and this was the year that we passed the final roadblocks on that route to cleaner cars. In May, President Obama reversed George W. Bush’s errant course and announced that the federal government would allow California’s vehicle standards to take effect. In fact, he also declared that new national standards would follow California’s lead.
In the California Legislature, the “sponsor” of a bill is a group that conceives of legislation, testifies for it, and pushes it through the entire process, from introduction to signing. This year, Sierra Club California successfully sponsored Assembly Bill 975, authored by Assemblymember Paul Fong. Thanks to this legislation, water corporations with more than 500 service connections will be required to install water meters on unmetered connections by 2025, and water billing will be based on meter readings and actual volume of water used. These measures will save more of California’s precious water supply.
After we pass legislation, we make sure it is implemented. One of our sponsored bills, the Mercury Thermostat Collection Act, authored by Assemblymember Ira Ruskin, took effect this year. Because of this law, the companies that made thermostats containing mercury, a potent neurotoxin, are required to take back waste thermostats at no charge to the consumer. To find a collection point, go to http://www.thermostat-recycle.org/.
SIERRA CLUB CALIFORNIA’S
PRIORITY ISSUES FOR 2010
1. Fighting Global Warming, Generating Clean Energy and Stimulating Green Jobs
Sierra Club California is working with the Legislature, Governor and Air Resources Board to speed our state’s transition to a green economy that sustains both jobs and our atmosphere, by.
- Raising the Renewables Portfolio Standard to 33% or higher by 2020, with policy reforms to improve implementation.
- Requiring motor vehicle manufacturers to innovate with new technologies that reduce their emissions of air pollution and greenhouse gases.
- Requiring major polluters to pay for their greenhouse gas emissions, with revenues used to benefit clean energy, public transit, preparedness, green jobs and low-income consumers.
2. Safeguarding Our Water Supply
California’s current water policies are failing to provide our people, our economy, and our environment with adequate supplies of clean, affordable water.
Sierra Club California is seeking to:
- Promote statewide water conservation and efficiency, including enacting into law requirements for water sub-metering.
- Educate our members, the media and general public about our opposition to the $11.1 billion water bond on the November 2010 ballot.
- Build best management practices for urban water agencies.
3. Protecting Californians from Toxic Threats
Bipartisan 2008 legislation gives the Department of Toxic Substances Control the authority to ensure that consumer products sold in California are safe for our families and our environment.
We are building on that breakthrough by working with DTSC to put its new regulatory framework in place. We are also implementing requirements for manufacturers of household hazardous wastes – like mercury-containing thermostats – to provide consumers with free and convenient recycling options.
4. Preserving Our Natural Heritage and Assuring Habitat Resiliency
We support a ballot measure to provide a sustainable source of funding for our state’s parks, which have been starved for resources.
And we are advocating in the Legislature to ensure that California’s beautiful coast, ocean, forests and deserts are protected, and that our diverse (but diminishing) species and habitats are safeguarded from such disparate threats as off-shore oil drilling, clearcutting, poorly planned development and global warming.
