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2007 called 'lackluster' year for environmental laws
By: DAVE DOWNEY - Staff Writer | ∞
After delivering a blockbuster package of measures to protect the environment last year, Sacramento managed only a lackluster effort in the 2007 legislative session, in the view of the state's major conservation groups.
"Last year was one of the best years that we've ever had," said Dan Jacobson, legislative director of Environment California, a statewide environmental group with offices in Sacramento.
But after giving lawmakers an "A" for their effort last year, Jacobson and the Sierra Club's Bill Allayaud on Wednesday graded them no higher than "B-minus" for 2007.
"There were no blockbuster bills," Allayaud said in a telephone interview from Sacramento.
The year's meager collection of passed environmental bills was a sharp contrast to that of 2006, when the Legislature delivered a landmark law requiring power plants, oil refineries and factories to take steps to curb climate change.
But there were positive developments this year, conservationists said.
They praised lawmakers for working to curb carbon emissions from gasoline and diesel fuel, pump money into research on alternative fuels and trim the power consumed by indoor lights. Lawmakers also worked to subsidize the installation of solar-powered hot-water heaters, ban use of certain toxic chemicals in the manufacture of children's toys and require plastic-makers to keep pellets -- the building blocks of plastic products -- out of waterways.
Rico Mastrodonato, Northern California director of the California League of Conservation Voters, said the solar hot-water bill "addresses one of the biggest natural gas-consuming appliances in people's homes." The initiative would provide $250 million for builders and homeowners looking to install hot-water heaters that harness the sun.
The fate of that and other measures adopted by the Legislature depends on Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who has until Oct. 14 to sign them.
"The question for the governor is, when it comes to environmental issues, is he going to be remembered as a guy who had a couple of good seasons or a guy who goes into the hall of fame?" Jacobson said.
Many bills shelved
What conservationists do know is that several bills they lobbied for were killed or put off until 2008. Environmental groups were particularly disappointed about lack of progress on bills that sought to stem the tide of trash rolling into the ocean, slow global warming and reduce the amount of toxic chemicals in products.
Jacobson said the ocean trash initiative took a significant hit.
"There were five bills that were introduced, and there is only one bill that has reached his desk," Jacobson said.
And yet, he said, "Protecting our ocean is an incredibly popular issue with all Californians and people are tired of seeing fast-food containers washing up on our beaches."
Perhaps the biggest disappointment was a decision to shelve legislation by Sen. Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, that aimed to curb climate change through planning.
Senate Bill 375 would have required counties such as San Diego and Riverside to craft regional transportation plans that encourage less driving. Plans would have had to build homes near job centers and boost dependence on public transit in order for regions to qualify for state highway funds. In the face of stiff opposition from cities and counties, action was put off until 2008.
Victoria Rome, a lobbyist for the Natural Resources Defense Council, called the Steinberg bill "the biggest missing piece of the global warming puzzle."
But Temecula Mayor Chuck Washington, chairman of the Western Riverside Council of Governments, said it would have handed some local land-use authority over to the state.
"We kind of bristle at that," Washington said, adding that Riverside County already is working to lure jobs for its sprawling bedroom communities.
Poway Mayor Mickey Cafagna, past chairman of the San Diego Association of Governments, agreed.
"Why do we need to have the state stick its nose into something that we are already doing in San Diego County," he asked.
Cities say smart growth is answer
Cafagna said his agency is encouraging builders to place homes near businesses through a "smart growth" strategy. And he said the agency is pumping billions into public transit, against the wishes of many who would prefer that the money be spent on freeways.
Conservationists dismissed the criticism.
"San Diego needs to get with the program and realize that this isn't a total usurpation of their land-use authority," Jacobson said.
Conservationists lamented the holding up of bills that would bar the use of certain fire retardants in furniture and beds and require water agencies to take climate change into account when writing long-term supply strategies.
Conservationists said it is time to use safer fire retardants that don't have the potential to cause cancer.
However, Mike Zimmerman, chief of staff for Assemblyman Martin Garrick, R-Carlsbad, said Garrick voted against the furniture bill because alternative chemicals may not be as effective in halting the spread of fire.
"We're putting people's lives at risk," Zimmerman said.
Garrick voted against the water planning bill because, Zimmerman said, it is too much of a burden for agencies at a time when the effects of climate change are unclear.
-- Contact staff writer Dave Downey at (760) 745-6611, Ext. 2623, or ddowney@nctimes.com.
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About time! wrote on Sep 20, 2007 7:58 AM:The Gaia Religion has been getting its "Four legs good, two legs baaaad" ethos legislated into law since the late 60s. Its about time the onslaught of anti-human laws pushed by these loonies started to slow. Maybe now we can review the way some of the past ones have been written and implemented, and revise them. People support environmental legislation in order to make a cleaner, safer, more enjoyable world for PEOPLE!! Not for bugs, shrimp, or seals!
Concerned-1 wrote on Sep 20, 2007 8:23 AM:A lackluster year defined by the radical environmental obstructionists is a good year for the general public.-
Oceanside Resident wrote on Sep 20, 2007 9:01 AM:Unfortunately the EnviroNazi's will never be happy until we are all on bicycles. Their "alarmist" views will lower our standard of living despite the fact that we all are more environmentally responsible. We must put people first however before insects and wildlife. Insects and wildlife will adapt to changing circumstances and I believe the environmentalists know this, but they still want their utopia and will not be satisfied until then.
There is nothing wrote on Sep 20, 2007 11:41 AM:Wrong with the environment. There is no need for laws to protect it. This is all a Democratic plot to scare people.
Chuckles wrote on Sep 20, 2007 2:44 PM:Some perspective is badly needed. California already has the most stringent environmental protections in the country. No one is seriously advocating the wholesale repeal of the CEQA, the Endangered Species Act, or the Coastal Act. Environmental activists have an incredibly strong presence in the Legislature, and the California Legislature is probably the greenest in the country. In fact, it's precisely because of the ability of environmental activists to control the terms of the debate that news articles like this get written.
Nothing here. wrote on Sep 20, 2007 5:22 PM:The top of the world is NOT melting. We have no water here. Go figure. Activists need to go to jail.
Dan P wrote on Sep 20, 2007 8:20 PM:Glad to hear the ... enviros had such a tough time this year. I get tired hearing of their many ways to take jobs away from working Americans in the name of some obscure endangered specie. Let them spend $25000 to go see Al Gore instead.
Danish Prognosticator wrote on Sep 20, 2007 8:55 PM:I look forward to the news article, "2007 called 'lackluster' for tax reform." Because, last time I checked, the AMT is going to eat me alive next spring. I also look forward to the news stories, "2007 called 'lackluster' for entitlement reform," and "2007 called 'lackluster' for tort reform." And how about the story, "2007 called 'lackluster' for school reform"? Indeed, the very presumption that some new environmentalist restriction needs to be codified into law every year is as silly as expecting a tax cut every holiday season.
Roberto1 wrote on Sep 20, 2007 10:02 PM:This is an international issue. Not a national issue as demonstrated by pollution coming to the USA from as far away as China. We quit buiding refineries in the US thirty years ago and the rest of the world under less stringent regulations not only builds these but continues to have less stringent air regulation all the way around. Examples are soft coal burning for electricity, polluter vehicles, painting facilities without emission controls and the list goes on. We cannot solve this problem by ourselves no matter what we do.
Willie wrote on Sep 21, 2007 6:45 AM:Don't you just love Republican toxic waste dumps? How bout good old GOP choking smog? Lets hear it for raw sewage! Mine tailings and slag heaps and open pit mines are ducky! Let's let our children clean up the mess. Tax cuts anyone? Let our children pay for cleaning up the mess too. The mercury and arsenic in their brains makes them docile, you know. They wont complain.
The. . . wrote on Sep 21, 2007 9:23 AM:top of the world is NOT melting. Interesting point. It certainly seems to be by every article, national geographic, scientist, I hear from. Please, tell me more. I would love to hear the information you have on this.-
Singer wrote on Sep 21, 2007 7:04 PM:to Willie: Excuse me, but how do come up with labeling the toxic waste dumps as "Republican?" Or, choking smog and raw sewage? These are NOT Republican problems, they are EVERYBODY's problems!! Since when did ONLY REPUBLICANS drive cars or use electricity or - heaven forbid - take a dump? Your logic is ludicrous! It is toxic in and of itself! It is PART OF THE PROBLEM!!
Bill2 wrote on Sep 24, 2007 2:01 AM:For those who do not believe that the ice is melting due to global warming - go on line and look at the photos of Mount Kilimanjaro (Africa)50 years ago and now. It was covered with ice year round and now it is virtually ice free. The space photos show a vast reduction in the area covered by the polar ice sheets. Our population needs to pull their heads out of the government (greed) sponsored BS and see reality. This is a Repulican plot to keep us deeluded so that we dont see reality even when the water is lapping at our ankles. I was raised in a small town in Pennsylvania (long ago) where we had a creek that we called Lost Creek becauce it ran black with coal dirt. Nothing grew within 50 yards of the creek. The standing joke was that you didn't have to worry about drowning if you fell in - you would disolve first.
Mat wrote on Sep 27, 2007 10:01 AM:Melting icecaps? Terror? Fear? Bah, Humans are small pack animals and until something effects your pack you'll do nothing. So relax and find comfort in that it isn't your fault. You didn't do anything. We are simply a predatory pack animal that has learned to live in hives like insects. Mother earth will deal will us soon enough.
Where is the wrote on Sep 29, 2007 12:28 PM:BIRD FLU? Global Warming another rip off of the tax payers, Gore needs to go to prision!
RE-Elect Al Gore ! wrote on Sep 29, 2007 4:16 PM: The problem with laws is the lack of enforcement. We need a strong President, a man with true understanding about our environment. We need to elect Al Gore again for President. The ignorance of the Republican agenda towards solutions to our environmental crisis is similar to the empty minds of some of the bloggers above. Head in the sand approach, solutions that are more toxic than the problems. BUSH and his cronies should be impeached and imprisoned for their crimes against humanity.
DUH! wrote on Sep 30, 2007 8:55 AM:Of course the ice is melting, but man is not the cause. If you get a bump on the head, do you think it will stay there forever? No, it will heal itself. The ice age is simply coming to an end by act of GOD not man. Have you ever wondered how Palm Trees were found under the polar ice? DUH!
Steve wrote on Oct 2, 2007 7:53 AM:Republican and Democratic nonsense. This is about people's choices and awareness level of more than just their own backyard. We cannot expect people to care for more than what they can see and feel. This issue will continue to get worse until a critical mass of people feels the health impact of pollution and trashing nature's design. Get excited!-
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