BIG OIL ATTACKS CALIF CLIMATE LAW

Measure to delay greenhouse gas cuts qualifies for November ballot
Margot Roosevelt, June 22, 2010 (LA Times)

" [California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger:] "This initiative sponsored by greedy Texas oil companies would cripple California's fastest-growing economic sector, reverse our renewable energy policy and decimate our environmental progress for the benefit of these oil companies' profit margins…I will not allow this to happen on my watch."

"An oil industry measure to postpone enforcement of California's 2006 global warming law [has] qualified for the November ballot…setting up what promises to be a nationally watched struggle over the future of renewable energy."

California has the finest New Energy effort in the country. Can it keep it? From stopdirtyenergyprop via YouTube

"The initiative, launched six months ago by Texas oil giants Valero Energy Inc. and Tesoro Corp., comes as the oil industry has fallen under intense scrutiny in the wake of the gulf oil spill disaster.

"California's law, by limiting greenhouse gas emissions from automobiles, oil refineries and other industries, has already begun to create a huge market for solar, wind and other clean energy sources…[but] could falter if the initiative passes…[T]he law, AB 32, would require that a third of the state's electricity come from renewable sources by 2020…Proponents are calling their measure "The California Jobs Initiative" and painting the climate law as "an energy tax." The initiative would halt enforcement of the law until unemployment in the state, now over 12%, sinks to 5.5% for at least a year…"

From stopdirtyenergyprop via YouTube

"Proponents of the measure spent $3 million, of which more than two thirds was contributed by the two Texas companies and other energy interests, to gather more than 800,000 signatures to place the measure on the ballot…Valero, which owns several California refineries, has mounted an aggressive campaign against federal efforts to pass climate legislation…[P]ostponing California's rules to limit greenhouse gases could damage the chances of any federal legislation."

[Steve Maviglio, spokesman, Californians for Clean Energy and Jobs:] "The Texas oil companies think if they can kill their clean energy competition in California, they can do it everywhere…"