Gov. Calls for Curbs on Emissions
SAN FRANCISCO — Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Tuesday threw his political weight behind a drive to curb greenhouse gas emissions but cautioned that the fight to reduce global warming should be done in a "sensible and deliberate way" to protect jobs.
Speaking at a global warming summit in San Francisco, Schwarzenegger called for heavy industries, such as power plants, refineries and factories, to begin reporting of emissions of carbon dioxide and other gases that contribute to climate change, as called for in his recently issued climate action plan.
He stressed that the reporting would provide the basis for creating "the world's best market-based system" for limiting greenhouse emissions.
Although he pledged to cooperate with similar efforts pending in the state Legislature, the governor stopped short of endorsing a Democratic bill that would cap the amount of carbon dioxide that could be released into the atmosphere by individual businesses.
"We don't want to go after business and make business leave the state," Schwarzenegger said. "We want to give them time."
Schwarzenegger said he wanted to find a "happy medium" and suggested that lawmakers and regulators should put off developing a system to cap and trade emissions until after 2010, when the California Environmental Protection Agency will have completed a detailed study of the buying and selling of credits that would allow a company to emit controlled levels of greenhouse gases.
The bill, supported by Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez (D-Los Angeles) and Assemblywoman Fran Pavley (D-Agoura Hills), would make limits on greenhouse gases state law as early as January. The caps would take effect in 2012 after the California Air Resources Board developed a plan that would begin ratcheting down allowable emissions.
The limits would be tightened in successive years until reaching a 2020 target, set by Schwarzenegger, of 25% below forecast levels.
Business leaders participating in the summit were divided over the governor's proposal. A cement company executive said his industry opposed any effort by the state to limit greenhouse gas releases.
"We think it will force jobs out of the state and overseas," said Tom Tietz of the California Nevada Cement Promotion Council. Cement manufacturers use large amounts of energy to operate kilns that produce carbon dioxide.
