Brown signs sweeping climate laws with big changes for California's future
LOS ANGELES _ Gov. Jerry Brown and legislative leaders embarked on a new era in California's effort to combat climate change Thursday when the governor signed a law committing the state to some of the most drastic greenhouse gas emission reductions in the world.
"What we're doing here is far-sighted, as well as far-reaching," Brown said at a signing ceremony at Vista Hermosa Natural Park in downtown Los Angeles. "California is doing something that no other state has done."
The legislation, passed after a difficult political battle in the Capitol, cements the legal framework for California's climate policies for years to come. While previous law required the state to reduce emissions by 2020, the new measure, SB 32, sets a new, more aggressive target for 2030.
Under the law, the state must reduce its greenhouse gas emissions to 40 percent below 1990 levels, a goal that will likely involve significantly more electric cars, additional renewable energy and drastic cuts in emissions from dairy farms and other key industries.
A second measure signed Thursday by the governor, AB 197, shifts the trajectory of the state's environmental policies. It creates a legislative committee to oversee regulators, giving lawmakers more say in how climate goals are met. It pushes the state to take stronger steps to curb local pollution, rather than simply seeking a statewide reduction in emissions.
"Our climate change policies today represent a turning of the page as it relates to focusing on people," said Democratic Assemblyman Eduardo Garcia, who wrote AB 197.
The new climate policies were opposed by the oil industry and some manufacturers, who raised concerns about rising costs and giving regulators too much power over Californians' lives.
But other businesses rallied to support the legislation, telling lawmakers that it would help create new clean-energy jobs in their districts.
_Los Angeles Times
