Press Release
July 3, 2014
Contact: Jenesse Miller, CLCV – 510.844.0235
Today, Assembly Member Henry Perea took advantage of a process known as a “gut and amend” and drastically altered his Assembly Bill 69. The new language in the bill seeks to give the oil industry a three-year exemption from complying with AB 32, the state’s landmark greenhouse gas emissions reduction and climate law. Transportation emissions are the single largest source in California, accounting for 40 percent of California’s climate-warming carbon pollution. These fuels are slated to come under the cap starting on January 1, 2015; the oil industry however, is mounting a fierce opposition to that plan, including providing content for a recent letter signed by Perea and 15 other Assembly Democrats to the California Air Resources Board that similarly asks to give a free pass to oil companies under AB 32.
Below is a statement from Sarah Rose, CEO of the California League of Conservation Voters.
“California voters expect their elected representatives to defend the laws that protect California families and strengthen our successful and ever-growing clean energy economy, not Big Oil’s bottom line.
“AB 32 is working and California voters support it. The law is spurring innovation and creating jobs. It’s helping us transition to a clean and growing economy and, as we saw in the recently approved budget, it’s providing significant new revenue for the hardest-hit communities in our state to address the effects of climate change. Putting a cap on greenhouse gas emissions from transportation fuels will reduce pollution from its largest source in the state. This is a critical step to reaching our clean air goals and a major incentive for innovators to create cleaner transportation fuels that strengthen our economy while further cleaning our air.
“It’s no surprise that Big Oil is doing everything they can to avoid compliance with the law. Oil companies and their friends in Sacramento are telling Californians that we should pay for their pollution in the form of increased asthma rates, lost workdays, and premature deaths from illnesses caused by air pollution. That price is too high and we won’t stand for it. It’s unacceptable to let the oil companies off the hook at the expense of our families and our environment. Californians deserve better than this recent oil industry attempt to escape their responsibility to reduce their harmful pollution.”
ABOUT CALIFORNIA ENVIRONMENTAL VOTERS
California Environmental Voters (formerly the California League of Conservation Voters) believes the climate crisis is here and this moment requires transformative change. California has the policy solutions to stop climate change but lacks the political will to do it at the rate and scale that’s necessary. EnviroVoters exists to build the political power to solve the climate crisis, advance justice, and create a roadmap for global action. We organize voters, elect and train candidates, and hold lawmakers accountable for bold policy change. We won’t stop until we have resilient, healthy, thriving communities, and a democracy and economy that is just and sustainable for all. Join us at www.envirovoters.org and on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. See more press releases.
