The first implementation efforts get underway.
State rules to tackle climate issues
The air board is set to adopt the first part of its plan to reduce emissions.
By Jim Downing - Bee Staff Writer
Published 5:08 am PDT Thursday, June 21, 2007
The greenhouse gases are about to hit the fan.
In Los Angeles today, the state Air Resources Board is scheduled to adopt the first detailed emissions-cutting regulations under California's umbrella global warming law, Assembly Bill 32.
While AB 32 was signed into law with bipartisan fanfare last fall, the state's first steps in implementing it this spring have drawn criticism from across the political spectrum.
AB 32 requires the state to cut its greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020. That's equivalent to reducing gasoline consumption by an average of 800 million gallons a year, each year, for the next 13 years.
That's something no industrial economy has ever done, and many environmental groups say air board staff hasn't been aggressive enough with the "early action measures" up for a vote today.
