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By Fabian Núñez
Speaker of the California State Assembly
The State of California depends on the Sierra Nevada snow pack for much of its water. A 2004 study by the National Academy of Science showed that unchecked global warming would cut the size of that snow pack by at least 29 percent by the end of the century.
In addition, our magnificent coastline could be vulnerable to a rise in sea levels due to global warming and it is that predicted the number of heat waves, like the record-breaking one in July, 2006 that killed 139 Californians, will double.
In Los Angeles, my home city, it is predicted there would be five times as many heat waves by the year 2100 compared to the current historical average, and twice as many heat-related deaths.
Fighting global warning is a challenging situation. But we can take action right here at home.
Last year, the legislature did its part by passing Assembly Bill 32, the California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006.
This legislation is the gold standard for combating global warming. Several other states, and even the U.S. Congress, are using it as a template for their own action.
I got involved in pushing the bill when even my 15-year old daughter had begun bugging me about what I was going to do about global warming. So I took it up – took on the special interests that fought and spent hard against it – and got the bill signed into law.
Here’s what it does:
In 2008, the California Air Resources Board will begin a mandatory program that will require industry to begin reporting their emissions of carbon dioxide. It will also establish a cap on greenhouse gas emissions.
The data we collect over a four year period will be used to determine which industries are the most significant emitters of carbon dioxide.
From 2008 until 2012 (when the actual cap begins to take force) a serious outreach effort will be undertaken to educate industry on carbon reductions and how best to achieve them.
From 2012 on to 2020, industry will begin to implement efforts to reduce their carbon output and take advantage of established market mechanisms.
That cut will bring carbon emissions down to 1990 levels.
The Climate Action Team – a group of state agencies coordinated by the California Environmental Protection Agency – found that meeting the 2020 limit on pollution will increase the income of Californians by $4 billion and create 83,000 jobs.
It could be the economic opportunity of a lifetime and for someone like me, elected from an inner-city neighborhood in Los Angeles, economic opportunity is a powerful motivator. I grew up in a poor section of San Diego. The view from our apartment building wasn’t of sailboats on the bay, but the smokestacks of a shipbuilding factory.
I want the economy for my children, for the children in my district, for the children of California, to be a clean economy.
I want their neighborhoods to be clean neighborhoods.
Fighting global warming can do that. Green technologies can do that.
Gold built California’s economy. Green will sustain it. Join me in helping our state pave the way for a green future.
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Speaker Fabian Núñez (D- 46th District) was elected to the California State Assembly in 2002 and sworn in as the State’s 66th Speaker on February 9, 2004.
Speaker Núñez has fought to protect and nurture the “California Advantage” — our innovative industries, our entrepreneurial spirit, our research universities, our environmental beauty and our greatest resource — the most productive workers in the world.
Note: Articles are posted for the purpose of generating ideas and honest debate on how San Francisco can live up to its full promise and potential. Posting of an article does not imply an endorsement by the author of Gavin Newsom for Mayor, nor an endorsement by Gavin Newsom for Mayor of the positions set forth in the article.
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March 28th, 2007 at 6:47 pm
[…] Speaker Núñez wrote an article for Act Locally SF today about what he’s doing on the state level to combat global warming. He talks about how his 15-year old daughter was the one that prompted him to step up and do something about it: Fighting global warning is a challenging situation. But we can take action right here at home. Last year, the legislature did its part by passing Assembly Bill 32, the California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006.This legislation is the gold standard for combating global warming. Several other states, and even the U.S. Congress, are using it as a template for their own action. I got involved in pushing the bill when even my 15-year old daughter had begun bugging me about what I was going to do about global warming. So I took it up – took on the special interests that fought and spent hard against it – and got the bill signed into law. […]
March 29th, 2007 at 8:04 am
since SF has now officially banned the use of plastic bags, the next logical step is a federal law requireing the use of either recycled hemp and/or recycled paper fibers in their disposable grocery bags…
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