Gov. Jerry Brown has a major vision for making California more environmentally friendly. In his State of the State address, he proposed cutting gas consumption by 50 percent, getting half of the state's electricity from renewable energy, and making buildings twice as energy-efficient -- all in the next 15 years.
On Tuesday, these ideas will be taken to the next level, as Senate President pro Tempore Kevin De Leon, D- Los Angeles, introduces a bill that would formalize these goals. And while a spokesperson for De Leon said exact details were still being finalized as of Monday morning, the proposal is already drawing criticism.
"We know that businesses, local governments and individuals in their households, are already feeling the impact from California's stepped-up environmental regulations," Sacramento Regional Technology Alliance CEO Kirk Uhler said. His group, known as SARTA, works closely with many of the region's clean technology companies, many of which could stand to benefit from stricter rules on climate change. But Uhler said the job gains in that sector wouldn't be worth it.
"Additional business mandates, while they might help an individual sector, don't help the overall economic growth of the region and that's what's of concern to SARTA," Uhler explained.
Another big opponent is the petroleum industry. Western States Petroleum Association President Catherine Reheis-Boyd released a statement saying the organization is "strongly opposed" to the discussed mandates, referring to them as "attacks" on the petroleum industry. Reheis-Boyd also implied the bill could hurt California's half-million workers in the petroleum industry.
Both Reheis-Boyd and California Independent Petroleum Association CEO Rock Zierman also questioned the cost of the proposals. Zierman said current incentives to move Californians off of gas, such as rebates for electric cars, seemed to have little effect on most consumers.
"Already we give $10,000 subsidies to electric car owners and we only have 100,000 of them on the road. We're going to need tens of millions of those on the road in the next 15 years. That's pretty ambitious," Zierman said.
