The California Air Resources Board voted in favor of three rules to reduce greenhouse gas emissions yesterday, but critics lambasted the measures as weak.
The board voted in favor of three "early action" greenhouse gas measures designed to take effect by 2010. One measure banned the sale of canned air conditioner fluid, which contains high concentrations of the greenhouse gas FHC 134a.
The other two measures involve mandating the development of alternative fuels and requiring the capture of methane from landfills. Collectively, the measures are expected to reduce an estimated 13 to 28 tons of greenhouse gases per year.
The measures are all mandated under the state's global warming solutions bill, A.B. 32, signed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) last fall (Greenwire, June 21).
The board voted 6-3 in favor of the measures. Dissenting members, including the chairman, attacked the measures as being hollow gestures to address the state's emissions.
"When the Senate confirmed members of the Air Resources Board, we asked for a commitment from them to take bold actions on reducing greenhouse gas emissions," state Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata (D) said in a statement. "Unfortunately, today they flunked the test."
Aaron McLear, a spokesman for the governor, said "nobody has shown more leadership in getting this state prepared to meet emissions reductions targets than Gov. Schwarzenegger."
Many accused the governor-appointed board of not supporting Schwarzenegger's campaign to combat climate change.
"What's the message or the signal that this board sends if the best we can do is three early action measures in the next couple of years?" asked Tim Carmichael of the Coalition for Clean Air during a six-hour public hearing on the issue. "This runs completely against what the rest of the world says we need to do, and the sense of urgency we should have" (Mark Martin, San Francisco Chronicle, June 22). -- EB
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