Dan Logue is my assemblyman, so I’m pleased to pass this bit of news on to WUWT readers.
SACRAMENTO-Assemblyman Dan Logue, R-Marysville, today announced that his bill, Assembly Bill 118, to suspend the California Global Warming Solutions Act (AB 32) will be heard in the Assembly Natural Resources Committee on Monday, January 11, 2010.
and…
From the Wall Street Journal:
Could Californians finally be serious about turning around their sputtering economy? One hopeful sign is a ballot initiative that would repeal the Golden State’s version of a cap-and-trade carbon tax.
This feel-good law to reduce the state’s carbon footprint was enacted with great hoopla by the Democratic legislature and Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2006 when the state’s economy was growing and the jobless rate was 5%. The law requires that starting in 2012 the state must ratchet down its carbon emissions to 1990 levels by 2020. The politicians and green lobbies told voters this energy tax would create jobs—the same fairy tale many in Washington are repeating today.
Now the jobless rate is 12.3%, 2.25 million Californians are unemployed, and the state government is broke. So Republican Assemblyman Dan Logue has begun collecting signatures for “The Global Warming Solutions Act,” a ballot initiative that would suspend California’s cap-and-trade scheme until the unemployment rate falls below 5.5%. He’s aiming to get it on the November ballot.
No matter what one thinks of climate science, it makes little sense for an individual state to unilaterally impose major new tax and regulatory costs on its own industries. The impact of California’s gesture on global temperatures will be infinitesimal, but the economic impact will make the state even less attractive to start or expand a business.
Read the rest of the article at the Wall Street Journal
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IHATEGREEN (07:25:35) :
Cap and trade is nothing more than eco-fascism.It is just another way for losers in the government,that can’t make it in the business world to take over the private sector!It is high time people in this country started fighting the Eco-Nazis!
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I believe that some of the more intelligent liberals have come to the conclusion that the only way to achieve the big liberal goals like no war, save the environment, etc. is to gain total control – a totalitarian world government via an organization like the UN. Then they will control what energy we use, what resources we use (or NOT), and there will be no war because there will be only one government. I have read about such goals on the web and I believe they are making strides in that direction. They need to be stopped.
Pamela Gray (09:14:49) :
With the falling dollar and the rise in Gold prices, I am surprised that the mines sit idle, though I shouldn’t be. Thousands of them in Calif., but not a sound. Forests are idle except for wildfires. Mines idle, no dredging, no timber salvage, no timber thinning. And now comes food imported from China on your shelves. WUWT? Candy, pet food, canned fruit and the list is growing. Obama promised that America would start importing food, as Ag. was considered to be a methane and C02 polluter.
How to increase energy use without raising production: Ship goods as far from the country of origin as possible. Those supercargo freighters don’t run on thin air.
Jim (09:28:53) :
I was just outside releasing some carbon (having a smoke) Yuk, thinking exactly along the lines of your post. Make no mistake that is exactly the goal; however you are incorrect to think (that they think) it will bring an end to war. The future wars will be fought (with passion) against any who don’t follow the sacred law, only these wars will be “just wars” against “eco-terrorists” and those who “threaten our way of life” – hang on, hasn’t that been used before?
Pamela Gray (09:14:49) :
The object is to take the entrepreneur out of the equation, that way we can have a society dependant on government (read totalitarian rule) for everything – how to think, what to think, what to produce, what to consume, how to die, when to die. In short a “Borg” a la Star Trek.
JonesII (08:53:27) :
“Vincent (08:21:41) : You should abandon inmediately that monster called EU. A former proud empire now a shameful colony”
There’s now widespread disatisfaction with the 3 main parties. The last elections at local level saw a profusion of fringe parties gaining strength, including bnp, ukip, english heritage. Many former conservatives are switching their allegience to ukip (uk independence party), but the electoral system works to ensure only mainstream parties win seats in parliament.
Meanwhile, the vultures from the eu continue to pick at the bones of the British carcass.
A quick lesson in manufacturing commodities out of thin air.
Louis Redshaw head of Environmental Markets at Barclays Capital recently said that Carbon will be the worlds biggest commodity market and it could become the worlds biggest market overall. But he didn’t mean carbon as in charcoal or diamonds or even carbon dioxide gas, as none of these things are new to commodities markets. What Redshaw was really referring to was the right to emit CO2. Since 2005 the right to emit CO2 has been traded on the stock market. But the right to emit CO2 is a fundamental human right, so how can it be traded like a commodity on the stock market?
Welcome to the cult of CO2 hate.
The value of a commodity is inversely proportional to its relative scarcity. A substance in abundance has little or no worth. In order to turn the right to emit CO2 into a valuable commodity first you must create a scarcity. But it would have been impossible to create a scarcity of a fundamental human right without employing a clever reality flip. The most important element in this sleight of hand was of course human compliance. This has been achieved by pseudo environmentalism or more accurately the cult of CO2 hate. Pseudo environmentalist are very easy to spot. They are the ones that think CO2 is polluting the environment but don’t actually give a damn about the multitude of examples of real pollution. The cult of CO2 hate has been perpetuated by indoctrination of a purely irrational fear of carbon dioxide. CO2 is an essential life giving gas, invisible and no more a pollutant than oxygen. Yet all across the world it is being talked about as though it is some form of toxic waste purely because it is a by-product of our existence. Healthy levels of CO2 much higher than todays paltry 385 ppm will be nothing but a boon to life on Earth yet, the cult of CO2 hate has been built into a crooked consensus and out of that consensus, restrictions on emissions have been and are being imposed.
Having created a scarcity out of the right to emit carbon dioxide, all that was required was a system by which credits for the right to emit CO2 could be issued and voila, our human right to emit CO2 has become a tradable commodity, listed on the stock market as carbon credits and traded by super rich like some modern day SLAVE TRADE.
Well I’ve got news for you Redshaw.
The next big thing in commodities is the TRUTH. Never has there been such a scarcity of the truth as in the 21st century. The truth is as rare as Rocking Horse poop and currently more valuable than pure gold.
There might be something to be said for leaving the gold in the ground until in becomes far more precious than it is now.
“Suspend AB 32” ballot initiative web site:
http://www.suspendab32.org/
Signature gathering scheduled to start Jan. 26. Can’t wait to sign.
Most politicians never realize they’ve made a mistake until the mob pulls them out from under their bed, carries them down the stairs and out the door, ties their hands, lifts them up on the roof of their Lexus, throws a rope over a strong limb in the tree their daughter planted 30 years ago, puts the noose around their neck, spits in their face, and revs the engine. Why do we keep electing mental midgets, lawyers, and Superstars to public office? Next time we need a Congressperson or Governator let’s elect an old fashioned, everyday Truck Driver, or Farmer, or… you know what I mean. Someone who understands the value our money has to us. Someone who knows how to balance a checkbook. Someone who can speak plain English to a TV camera. Someone who’s not trying to win the White House and who’s focused on the job they have now. Someone… etc., etc.
I said “plain” English, I didn’t say they had to speak it with a clear, understandable Midwest accent.
I don’t live in California and I don’t care if they go under anymore than I care if people are harmed by their own stupidity. Am I callous because I think people should be responsible for their own destinies? California offers a prime example of what happens when leftwing lunacy is allowed free reign.
California businesses are welcome in New Hampshire. I’ll send Arnold a loaf of bread in return.
Henry Chance: “Big Wind”……wonderful
Rebut all warmista arguments by suggesting that they are “the voice of Big Wind”.
And we all know where the voice of Big Wind originates….
AB 32 is just one of several problems California is facing, most of which are self-induced. Professor Joerg Knipprath (a professor of law at Southwestern Law School in Los Angeles) summarized the issues quite well at his blog:
“The solution to California’s budgetary crisis is to cut spending on social welfare programs, flatten out the tax base to broaden taxpayer participation, eliminate the budgetary protections for education, radically revamp the delivery of education (including state-wide funding) that costs among the highest in the country yet delivers among the worst results, break the power of public sector employee unions, put the governor’s “green jobs” fantasies on ice, reduce taxes and business regulations (especially environmental) that hamper capital formation and job creation. In other words, what is needed is to take California out of the fantasy world of liberal ideology that blankets California politics. And that, I regret to say, will not happen until that corrosive world view turns California into much more of a failed economic state than it is even now.” [bold emphasis added]
http://www.tokenconservative.com/2010/01/11/schwarzeneggers-education-funding-fantasy/
jtom (06:38:46)
/signed
my thoughts exactly. (emphasis mine)
woodNfish (11:48:15)
“California offers a prime example of what happens when leftwing lunacy is allowed free reign.”
And this is why some of us predicted what would happen when Obama and the Dems took over the Fed Gov.
So maybe we should watch CA fester and be example to the rest of the world? CA is probably hopeless, but the national Gov isn’t, yet.
Perhaps California is too big to be allowed to fail…
What?? A California politician with a shred of sense? I live here, and I will do whatever I can to get this on the ballot. And I can guarantee that I did not vote for the original ridiculous ballot measure that put this stupidity into law. We have at least 5-10 of these stupid taxes on the ballot every election, and somehow the people always vote for them…I guess the only “research” they do into the actual measure is the TV commercials that make you feel like you are a horrible child killer or want to deforest the whole planet if you don’t vote for this new tax or that one.
Lazarus Long (06:19:53) :
Remember how they used to say that California was going to fall into the Pacific Ocean?
The never mentioned that they would be lopping on the branch themselves.
Yes, they are, and they’re swearing it’s the most ‘progressive’ thing they could do!
Pamela Gray (09:16:19) :
I don’t see my post yet. Did it fall in a pothole?
It seems the moderators are having the Dickens of a time reaching in to the spam filter. They don’t know if there’s something living down there and will bite.
Pamela Gray (09:16:19) :
I don’t see my post yet. Did it fall in a pothole?
Naw, would’ve been a posthole.
photon without a Higgs (02:35:05) : until the unemployment rate falls below 5.5%. Which will be the 12th of never.
What I mean is unemployment is bad in California. It will be a long, long time before it is down to 5.5%
Oh Yeah. The financial channels have Cal. unemployment at 15% not counting ‘discouraged workers’ (of which, I am one…). IIRC, the “youth minority” unemployment was just a percent or three below 1/2 (guess what it’s going to be like in hot L.A. minority neighborhoods when folks are having their 2 nd or 3 rd year without a paycheck? )
So you could add 10% more jobs in California, and all that will happen is that the folks who are not currently being counted will start looking for a job and get counted.
The best estimate I’ve heard so far is that the actual unemployment rate in California is between 18% and 25% (on a financial broadcast, so no link) and rising. There was also discussion in the same coverage of that fact that the State will need to start layoffs Real Soon Now as the folks they were asking to hand them money have said no (including Obama and The Dems; and despite him being a sock puppet for his Kenedy spouse). Then there is the fact that the LAST “budget fix” consisted of raiding the Cities and Counties for any cash they had and leaving an IOU (honest! Reported on NPR National Public Radio so you know it’s true 😉 to be repaid some day when the State has money again… So the local governments are looking at layoffs too.
And all THAT is going to cut down on collateral spending (i.e. retail lays off folks when no state workers are buying new socks for puppets…)
We’re deep in a spiral decent into collapse and the folks in charge are just arguing over what music to have the band play and where on the deck is the best place to put them.
Oh, and I just love the way they talk about new green jobs then increasing spending that will lead to manufacturing jobs. Guess they didn’t notice that there is NOTHING sold in the stores that’s marked “Made in California” and darned near nothing “made in USA”. The “collateral impact” of any increased purchasing is going to be 90%+ in China.
Finally, I would not start a company in California if you paid me to. (I had one about a decade ago; employing a dozen folks.) I MIGHT put one in Nevada and ship stuff in, maybe. I’d strongly consider putting one on the Mexican border. And given any chance at all, I’d go Asian. (WIth honorable mention to Brazil… I just don’t know enough about local wage rates and employment law there. Yet.)
So good luck on that whole “cycle of growth” thing. Frankly, most of the folks I know with skills have bugged out anyway. (And the rest are starting to share their exit strategies with me.)
woodNfish (11:48:15) : California businesses are welcome in New Hampshire. I’ll send Arnold a loaf of bread in return.
Please include small circus … all donations welcome… would you like your windshield washed?
Pascvaks (11:31:13) : Why do we keep electing mental midgets, lawyers, and Superstars to public office?
Because while we control the ballot box; the parties and the politicians that inhabit them control who gets on the ballot. Joe Plumber is NOT a party connected guy who gets funding and all his forms filled out and filed by the party machine. It is all about the king makers and not about the puppet kings.
Pamela Gray (09:14:49) : How to solve it? Limit the Federal Government and impose protectionism at our ports. etc.
I think it doesn’t need a laundry list (though I liked the list…) The “fix” is very easy. Delete the commerce clause from the constitution. Substantially all the ‘crud’ is shoved under it.
including the right to a marriage license between consenting adults
Um, pray tell, why sould there even BE a “marriage license”? The “common law” marriage seems like enough for me. If you live together and say you are married, you are married. Don’t see that the government ought to be involved at all. (And frankly, I think that generalizes to 90%+ of everthing all levels of goverment do… from dog licenses to meat inspection. Never heard of Kosher? Better than any government plan… )
“Paint Your Wagon” is an excellent expose’ on this thinking and well worth a cold day snuggled in bed with hot chocolate.
I’d rather it was a warm day snuggled in bed with ice cream 😉
RE: Buffy Minton (12:07:11) : “Henry Chance: “Big Wind”……wonderful”
Would you believe ‘Big Money Climatism?’
Leon Brozyna (05:54:22) : So, rather than the tax kicking in in 2012, it might kick in then or when unemployment drops to 5.5%. If I’m a businessman, that tells me I may have an extra couple years in which to move my business out of state.
I’ve been a businessman here. What it says to me is that at any time I might have a sudden and massive tax / cost increase that is beyond my control and not predictable. My risk of doing business just went up, a lot. Not quite as bad and knowing you are toast right up front, but almost as bad.
So I’d not choose to do that. Few miles over is a place without the risk, with lower wage costs, with lower regulatatory burden, etc. I go there. Period.
BTW, once someone has moved, it takes a very long time and a very large carrot to get them to return, if ever.
It was amusing to watch the xx annual Rose Parade “from Pasadena” this year. The pathetic lineup of floats featured three from the nation’s government. Trouble was – that nation is China.
The greatest delusion here is the attempt to codify the belief that “California” exits anywhere but in this now sadly corrupt VR game. Time for the board to face facts that computer models, climate and otherwise, are incapable of substituting for real life.
“Acceptance is the door to clarity.”
Spector (10:48:51) :
“There might be something to be said for leaving the gold in the ground until in becomes far more precious than it is now.”
The idea is to leave it in the ground until the “ground” is owned/controlled by the bankers. The whole idea is to return us to serfdom where only the very wealthy “lords” own land and the peons/serfs are dependent on the lords for their very existence. That is what Waxman’s two bills are all about. “Cap and Trade” deprives us of energy and the means to create products and thus wealth. “Food Safety Enhancement” deprives us of the basic right to grow our food without permission/regulation of the government.
I also prefer common law marriage over a license. Stay together long enough and you have to split down the middle if things go sour, no exceptions for any reason. It would drastically reduce the shacking up on a whim thing unless you were truly committed. For us women, we would learn a lesson or two about “buyer beware”.
Clean Air Performance Professionals
Friday, January 29, 2010
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
State Capitol Building
Sacramento, CA 95814
Phone: 916-445-2841
Fax: 916-558-3160 ( new number )
C/o Lisa
RE: Sierra Research Report SR 2007-04-01
Dear Mr. Governor
California Air Resources Board (CARB) and The Department of Consumer Affairs/ Bureau of Automotive Repair DCA/BAR have contracted with Sierra Research for a Report of Smog Check performance.
Sierra has informed me the report was final in March 2009 and released to CARB.
CARB, BAR, IMRC, and the California Legislature are using the Report for public policy but refusing to release the publicly funded Report.
Mr. Governor, I’m confused, can you refer me to someone who might help?
Cc to interested parties
From: Charlie Peters
Clean Air Performance Professionals
cappcharlie@earthlink.net
(510) 537-1796 – fax: (510) 537-9675