Governor Jerry Brown spent five hours in a committee testifying about his proposal to extend California’s Cap-and-Trade program to the year 2030. This is unheard of and showed the Governor’s commitment to the issue as he had to sit through several hours of public testimony for and against the proposal.
Both bills, AB 617 by Assemblymembers Cristina Garcia (D-Bell Gardens), Eduardo Garcia (D-Coachella) and Miguel Santiago (D-Los Angeles) and AB 398 by Assemblymember Eduardo Garcia (D-Coachella), passed out of committee on a party line vote.
At the hearing, the Governor adamantly advocated for his GHG reduction plan, stating at one point, “We’re not going to pull back — the only question is how to go forward. Are we going to do that by an extensive, massive, intrusive regulatory burden that will be three to five times more expensive? That is not the way to go.”
According to the Governor’s Office, the legislative package will “launch a landmark program to measure and combat air pollution at the neighborhood level, in communities most impacted, and extend and improve the state’s world-leading cap-and-trade program to ensure California continues to meet its ambitious climate change goals.”
Initially, a vote was scheduled for yesterday on the package, but strong opposition from the far-Left, led by environmental groups that do not want to see any market-based programs and by Environmental Justice groups that want to see more resources directed to certain neighborhoods, has stalled the vote. Rumor is that amendments are being crafted to both bills now.
Additionally, it is being reported that some legislators are stating they will not vote for the Cap-and-Trade bills unless a package of bills addressing the Affordable Housing crisis in California is also put together (more on this to follow).
So, negotiations are still seemingly fluid and at this point not many people are willing to place a bet on what happens.
Here is a good news account about the craziness that’s happening on this topic right now. Click here to read the full article.
