From the LA Times, some “climate justice” for the poor:
…
The California lawsuit was filed by six environmental groups that represent low-income communities, including the Association of Irritated Residents, based in the San Joaquin Valley, and Communities for A Better Environment, which fights pollution around the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.
The groups contend that a cap-and-trade program would allow refineries, power plants and other big facilities in poor neighborhoods to avoid cutting emissions of both greenhouse gases and traditional air pollutants.
Full story here
h/t to WUWT readers Duke C. and Jeremy
In a way this is good, because it shows people are realizing that cap-and-trade is primarily an economic program, and they are rejecting it. After all, the primary goal of cap-and-trade is for the traders to make money — all this fuss about emissions is just the means to an end. People who would like cleaner air in their vicinity are not necessarily going to get that.
But it’s disappointing to see people still clinging to the notion that “carbon” is a bad thing. Air pollution may be a problem in California, but CO2 is not a pollutant. Hopefully that’s the next thing to get straightened out.
Another case of doing the right thing for the wrong reason. I’ll take it.
There’s just no pleasing some people 🙂
“Spanner in the works!”
I’m willing to bet my life’s savings that if the dirty industries being affected by the cap-and-trade law filed the lawsuit for the exact same reason, the same San Francisco judge would not have put an injunction on the law.
More than one in five (21%) of California small-business owners do not expect to be in business in California in three years, according to a recent survey by Small Business California, an advocacy group in San Francisco. (Read the story at link below.)
http://jan.ocregister.com/2011/03/08/are-calif-businesses-closing-or-leaving/55995/
IF AB32 is enacted, you can expect a lot more then 1 in 5 small businesses leaving the state; you can expect medium and large businesses leaving too. IF the object of AB32 is to generate major unemployment and high energy costs, Sacramento has found the way with this law.
The STUPID Politicians that are in office who support AB32 are living in a dream world. They fantasize that AB32 is going to generate all sorts of green technology that will create jobs. Yet, two different studies in Spain and England say, it destroys jobs.
At one time, California was a great place, BUT the STUPID Ultra-Liberals took over and are really making a mess of this state. At least the Judge gave us a break from some of their stupidity.
Bob Diaz
Time for liquid fluoride thorium reactors. Apparently, the discussion around the world is turning in this direction. Good.
See
http://www.moneycontrol.com/news/cnbc-tv18-comments/thorium-catches-worlds-eye-post-japanese-nuke-disaster_530566.html
The US developed thorium technology decades ago. An internal political battle killed it.
Found a nice YouTube on thorium reactors. This is the shortened 16 min version.
So essentially the law site is about the law not being harsh enough in destroying industry???
Mailman
They filed the lawsuit because the loony law does not go far enough? It does not manage to shut down power production or dramatically increase the rates for these so-called poor people, so the law must be rewritten by the court? Are these robot power plants that do not employ humans? Are these people insane?
William Briggs has a write-up on this rather confusing matter:
http://wmbriggs.com/blog/?p=3650
I thought it was a spoof, at first.
The article explicity states that California did not adequately consider a straight carbon tax rather than cap and trade. Cap and trade creates mechanism where proxies collect the carbon taxes from a trading carbon emissions (paying a commision to the trader) by energy and fuel companies and then everyone pays the taxes through energy and fuel bills. Carbon taxes are much more direct and don’t let the legislature hide behind the proxies. If California charges carbon taxes directly, will the citizens of the state find it as popular at the citizens of Australia who are looking at carbon taxes in the near future?
“Association of Irritated Residents” — now that’s telling it like it is.
Technically my post was right before the Dukes, but who’s counting? 🙂
REPLY: Sorry, sometimes it is the one seen first. – Anthony
I doubt that this will help much. The decision belongs to the ‘environmental justice’ movement, which says that poor people should be surrounded by pure natural wilderness with NO JOBS. In other words, EJ’s goal is to turn Western countries into Haiti. (Detroit is already halfway there!)
The Calif governor and legislature will now proceed to make the law more acceptable to EJ. The obstacle to cap-n-trade won’t matter much because cap-n-trade is already fading; and I guarantee the alternative will be worse.
“… the Association of Irritated Residents?” Obviously chose for the abbreviation (what a bunch of airheads), but I like “irritated.” If I were in Japan, I could start a group of irritated & irradiated curmudgeons.
> Another case of doing the right thing for the wrong reason.
In politics, that’s often as good as it gets.
At the New Hampshire house committee on Science, Technology, and Energy, only one person who testified against NH pulling out of RGGI, our cap & trade system, testified on scientific grounds. All the rest referred to the loss of RGGI proceeds that a pull out would cause.
It’s no longer about the science, it’s all about passing money around.
I stopped reading when the article made the claim that the recent ballot initiative to stop this madness was funded by the oil industry.
The LA times will never let go of a usefull lie.
I fully agree Karen D. Cap N Trade will pose a greater danger to the environment than any economic law we’ve ever passed because puts everything that is composed of carbon into the hands of traders. This means every living thing, and much of none living things. Traders don’t give a damn about anything but making money. That is why there is so much secret funding by industry for the global warming non-sense and Cap N Trade.
All carbon taxing schemes and tradeing scheme will drive up the cost of energy hurting the poor the most. Fat cat traders will scam the system pulling the money form the poor and middle class and when the scam collapses there will be lots of socialism for Wall St. to prevent big buisness losses and Main St. will be the source for the bail outs just like the Asset Backed Paper fiasco of 2009/2010.
Karen D, I know we say that a lot, that carbon dioxide in the atmosphere *isn’t* a pollutant, but is that really true? Why isn’t an excess created by human industry considered “pollution” in the sense that it’s not there until we put it there by essentially dumping it in the air as industrial waste? Carbon monoxide occurs naturally in the air, but when there’s lots of it created by vehicle emissions, we consider that “smog” and think of it as pollution, right?
I’m not claiming you’re wrong, I’m simply wrestling with this concept. I suspect there’s something fishy about your concept of pollution or mine and I’d like to get to the bottom of it.
The eco-Hatfields are firing a fusillade at the eco-McCoys. Fun to watch, but I don’t expect anything good to come out of it.
Association of Irritated Residents
I don’t care what they stand for… I’m almost tempted to join just because of their name!!!! 🙂
I see in the full story that the air board has a “global warming plan”.
So it thinks warming is a good thing, then, and it needs to be planned properly?
@Sonicfrog: Perhaps we can start the Association of Bull**** Taxpayers.
This is fun – a real performance. Waiting for Mrs. Pelosi etc to pick this up, pointing on the forces of evil (big oil, gas, whatever).
A newspaper that is agenda-driven, really poor. A state that is exporting jobs and is, after years and years of liberal policy close to bankruptcy is trying to wipe out the rest of its industry and power generating capacity. Go, California!! If one wants to understand why California is in the toilet, see this discussion and the initiatives.
Not being US-American it is sad to see the US going down for internal stupidities, as if there arent enough external challenges. Admitted that it is not better in Germany …
Sean says:
March 22, 2011 at 9:55 am
‘California did not adequately consider a straight carbon tax rather than cap and trade. Cap’
Unless I missed something the California law allows offsets that don’t need to be located within California in typical NIMBY fashion. Hence Washington State and Oregon are being carpeted with windfarms.