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California Vote May 'Stifle' Environmental Laws (Update1)
2010-11-03 22:21:28.136 GMT
(Updates results, adds CantorCO2e, California Air
Resources Board comment from the second paragraph. See ELECT <GO>
for more national election news, EXT4 <GO> for state and local
coverage.)
By Simon Lomax
Nov. 3 (Bloomberg) -- California's approval of a ballot
measure making it harder to pass regulatory fees may undermine
state environmental laws, including planned limits on greenhouse
gases, said the Climate Action Reserve, a Los Angeles-based
carbon offsets program.
Proposition 26 on yesterday's ballot won by 53 percent to
47 percent, according to the California Secretary of State's
Elections Division. The initiative would require some state and
local regulatory fees to be approved by two-thirds votes instead
of simple majorities.
A separate ballot measure to delay enforcement of
California's global warming law until the economy improves,
Proposition 23, was defeated 39 percent to 61 percent.
The new fees requirement "may stifle environmental,
health, and safety programs in general," Gary Gero, president
of the Climate Action Reserve, said in an e-mail.
The impact of Proposition 26 on California's global warming
law, which would require utilities to get almost a third of
their electricity from renewable sources such as solar panels
and create a market for carbon dioxide pollution permits, is
"uncertain" for now, he said.
Legal Challenges
Supporters of the global warming law said before
yesterday's election that businesses could use Proposition 26 to
mount legal challenges to carbon dioxide fees or the sale of
pollution permits at government-run auctions, arguing they
weren't approved by two-thirds of the state's lawmakers.
Gero said he's "hopeful" California can "implement a
robust climate change program" after the approval of
Proposition 26.
Proposition 26 won't "impair" California's ability to
enforce its global warming law, said Mary Nichols, chairman of
the air resources board. The law is "on track, with renewed
vigor" after the defeat of Proposition 23, Nichols said in an
e-mail.
The air quality agency should still abandon carbon permit
auctions and find a way to fund the program without pollution
fees "out of an abundance of caution," Josh Margolis, chief
executive officer of CantorCO2e, the emission markets unit of
Cantor Fitzgerald LP, said in an e-mail.
The agency should also scrap a proposed minimum price for
carbon dioxide permits of $10 each, Margolis said. Each permit
represents one metric ton of carbon dioxide.
For Related News and Information:
Top environment stories: GREEN <GO>
Stories about U.S. and climate: TNI US CLIMATE <GO>
Global emissions data: EMIS <GO>
Northeast U.S. trading: RGGI <GO>
--Editors: Joe Link, Bill Banker
To contact the reporter on this story:
Simon Lomax in Washington at +1-202-654-4305 or
slomax@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Dan Stets at +1-212-617-4403 or dstets@bloomberg.net.
