BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SJR 17|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: SJR 17
Author: Leno (D) and Pavley (D), et al
Amended: As introduced
Vote: 21
SENATE ENV. QUALITY COMMITTEE : 5-2, 8/26/09
AYES: Simitian, Corbett, Hancock, Lowenthal, Pavley
NOES: Runner, Ashburn
SUBJECT : Climate change
SOURCE : Oceana
DIGEST : This resolution reaffirms the Legislatures
commitment to reducing greenhouse gases in California to
1990 levels by 2020. It urges the United States
Environmental Protection Agency to regulate greenhouse
gases and the federal government to persevere in its
commitment to leading the world in efforts to address
global climate change and ocean acidification, and reduce
the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere to
350 parts per million.
ANALYSIS : Existing law, under the California Global
Warming Solutions Act of 2006 (CGWSA):
1. Requires the 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
CONTINUED
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sets various requirements to meet this requirement.
(Section 38500 et seq. of the Health and Safety Code)
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. (Section 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. (Sections
38562 and 38570)
This resolution:
1. Makes various findings relating to the impacts of
climate change on the Arctic 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 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
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efforts to become world leaders in the effort to
address global climate change.
Comments
According to the resolution's sponsor, Oceana, "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. 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."
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 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.
AB 32 . AB 32 (Nunez/Pavley), Chapter 488, Statutes of
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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.
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.
FISCAL EFFECT : Fiscal Com.: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/28/09)
Oceana (source)
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to Oceana, significant
changes are 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
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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.
DLW:mw 8/28/09 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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