BILL ANALYSIS
SJR 17
SENATE COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
Senator S. Joseph Simitian, Chairman
2009-2010 Regular Session
BILL NO: SJR 17
AUTHOR: Leno
AMENDED: As Introduced
FISCAL: No HEARING DATE: August 26,
2009
URGENCY: No CONSULTANT: Rachel Machi
Wagoner
SUBJECT : CLIMATE CHANGE: OCEAN ACIDIFICATION:
ARCTIC
SUMMARY :
Existing law , under the California Global Warming Solutions
Act of 2006 (CGWSA):
1)Requires the California Air Resources Board (ARB) to
determine the 1990 statewide greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions
level and approve a statewide GHG emissions limit that is
equivalent to that level, to be achieved by 2020, and sets
various requirements to meet this requirement. (Health and
Safety Code 38500 et seq.).
2)Requires ARB to prepare and approve a scoping plan by
January 1, 2009, for achieving the maximum technologically
feasible and cost-effective reductions in GHG emissions from
sources or categories of sources of GHGs by 2020. ARB must
evaluate the total potential costs and total potential
economic and noneconomic benefits of the plan for reducing
GHGs to the state's economy and public health, using the
best economic models, emission estimation techniques, and
other scientific methods. The plan must be updated at least
once every five years. (38561).
3)Requires ARB to adopt GHG emission limits and emission
reduction measures by regulation on or before January 1,
2011, and meet certain requirements in adopting the
regulations. ARB may include the use of market-based
mechanisms to comply with these regulations. (38562,
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38570).
This bill :
1)Makes various findings relating to the impacts of climate
change on the Artic region and ocean acidification; how
those effects may result in harmful impacts to California's
weather patterns, environmental and human health and economy
and how reducing the atmospheric concentration of carbon
dioxide to no more that 350 parts per million is necessary
to help preserve the planet.
2)Resolves that the California Legislature:
a) Remains committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions
in California to 1990 levels by 2020.
b) Urges the United States Environmental Protection
Agency to regulate mobile and stationary source
greenhouse gas emissions.
c) Urges the President and Congress of the United States
to persevere in their commitment in their efforts to
become world leaders in the effort to address global
climate change.
COMMENTS :
1) Purpose of Bill . According to the sponsor, "SJR 17 calls
on the federal government to protect the health and welfare
of the Arctic, California and the world by addressing
global climate change and ocean acidification. Climate
change is one of the defining issues of our time, and it is
time for bold and substantive action to address this
oncoming threat. The impacts of climate change are already
becoming apparent around the world especially in the
Arctic. The Arctic is warming at a rate twice that of the
rest of the planet, and shrinking sea ice levels threaten
local ecosystems and iconic marine species like polar
bears, walrus and whales. Arctic peoples rely on these
ecosystems for a subsistence way of life practiced for
generations, and are already facing stark new realities as
the Arctic changes.
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In addition, changes in the Arctic are likely to
reverberate throughout California and the rest of the
world. Arctic warming may alter storm and precipitation
patterns, raise sea levels through the melting of Greenland
ice sheet and thaw Arctic permafrost, potentially releasing
large amounts of trapped carbon dioxide and methane into
the atmosphere, which could dramatically accelerate climate
change."
2) Addressing climate change . Climate change refers to
long-term changes in temperature, precipitation, wind
patterns and other parts of earth's climate system. The
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) defines
climate change as "any change in climate over time, whether
due to natural variability or as a result of human
activity." For some time, scientific research increasingly
attributes these climate changes to GHGs, especially those
generated from use of fossil fuels. Scientists indicate
that the earth is warming faster than any time in the
previous 1,000 years, and the 10 warmest years of the last
century occurred in the last 15 years. A rise in
temperature accompanied by climate change affects how
organisms live, adapt, and survive.
3) AB 32 . AB 32 (Nunez/Pavley) Chapter 488, Statutes of 2006,
requires the ARB to determine the 1990 statewide greenhouse
gas (GHG) emissions level and approve a statewide GHG
emissions limit that is equivalent to that level, to be
achieved by 2020 - and sets related requirements (see
Summary above).
In implementing AB 32, ARB adopted the first list of early
action measures June 21, 2007, and adopted an augmented
list of early action measures October 25, 2007. Mandatory
reporting regulations for GHGs were adopted and the 2020
GHG emissions target were set December 6, 2007. The
Scoping Plan was adopted December 12, 2008, and ARB
rulemaking continues in 2009 and 2010. First early action
measures take effect January 1, 2010, major GHG reduction
rulemaking concludes January 1, 2011, with rules taking
effect January 1, 2012.
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4) Costs of inaction . Delays in acting on climate change can
also result in costs. A recent Climate Action Team (CAT)
draft assessment on climate change provides analyses on
climate change impacts relating to various matters, such as
warming trends, precipitation, sea-level rise, agriculture,
forestry, water resources, and public health.
For example, regarding sea level rise the report notes that
"Sea level measured over several decades at California tide
gage stations has risen at a rate of about 17 cm (7 inches)
per century. The sea-level rise projections in the 2008
Impacts Assessment indicate that the rate and total
sea-level rise in future decades may increase substantially
above the recent historical rates. The 2008 estimates
represent a significant departure from those in the 2006
CAT report." According to the report, "By 2050, sea-level
rise could range from 30 to 45 cm (11 to 18 inches) higher
than in 2000, and by 2100, sea-level rise could be 60 to
140 cm (23 to 55 inches) higher than in 2000. As sea level
rises, there will be an increased rate of extreme high
sea-level events, which can occur when high tides coincide
with winter storms and their associated high wind wave and
beach run-up conditions. The draft CAT report notes that
"analysis reveals that $100 billion of property and 475,000
people are located in Bay and open coast areas vulnerable
to inundation in 2099. However, risk is not evenly
distributed among the counties in the San Francisco Bay,
with San Mateo and Alameda counties having 40 percent of
assets at risk, the greatest amount in the Bay Area.
Marin, Santa Clara, and San Francisco counties are also
exposed to a high degree of risk; exposure to risk in these
counties is higher than in all other counties along the
Pacific coast, with the exception of Orange County.
Exposure to risk in Sonoma and Napa counties is relatively
modest. While all sectors are vulnerable to the impacts
from sea-level rise, 70 percent of all assets at risk are
residential, followed by the commercial sector with 20
percent. In addition to buildings and their contents, a
wide range of other critical infrastructure, such as roads,
hospitals, schools, emergency facilities, water and
wastewater treatment plants, and others will also be at
increased risk of flooding. Continued development in
vulnerable areas would put additional assets and people at
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risk."
5) Climate Change and the Ocean . Along with a disrupted
climate system, our emissions of carbon dioxide are having
a severe impact on the oceans. The oceans absorb roughly
30 percent of global carbon emissions and 80 percent of the
heat generated by increased levels of greenhouse gases,
thereby mitigating some of the climate change that would
otherwise occur. However, by absorbing those emissions and
heat, the oceans are becoming more acidic, changing the
chemistry of the oceans thereby threatening marine
organisms like hard corals, clams and crabs.
According to Oceana, significant changes are already taking
place throughout the oceans, from decreasing rates of
corals on the Great Barrier Reef to massive coral bleaching
events across the tropics. Coral reefs provide important
habitat to a quarter of all marine species. Nearly 30
percent of the world's tropical corals have vanished since
1980, mainly due to warming events. At the current rate of
emission growth, tropical corals could be gone by the
middle to the end of this century. If current emission
trends continue, cold-water corals will be severely
stressed by 2040, and two-thirds of them could be in a
corrosive environment by the century's end. The
disappearance of coral reefs would cost society billions of
dollars annually due to losses in fishing, tourism and
coastal protection services. Oceana asserts that over 100
million people depend on coral reefs economically, and
subsistence communities may experience health consequences
and lack of food security due to the loss of protein
associated with coral reefs. Many commercial fisheries
depend on reefs which provide food and shelter for fish.
The loss of reefs may further destabilize already depressed
commercial fish populations. To protect coral reefs and the
ecosystems that depend on them, we must stabilize carbon
dioxide in the atmosphere at or below 350 ppm. Calvin
6) The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) . IPCC
concluded that in order to stabilize carbon dioxide in the
atmosphere at 350 ppm, global carbon dioxide emissions
would need to be cut 85 percent below 2000 levels by 2050,
and in order to achieve this Annex I countries
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(industrialized countries and countries with economies in
transition, such as the Russian Federation) would need to
reduce their carbon emissions by 25 to 40 percent below
1990 levels by 2020; and 80 to 95 percent by 2050.
SOURCE : Oceana
SUPPORT : None on file
OPPOSITION : None on file