California climate bill weighed down by lobbyists

The battle between environmental groups and oil refiners and manufacturers is heating up in California.

The state’s landmark climate bill, the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 – also known as AB 32 – has become the target of efforts by a coalition of Texas oil interests and California manufacturers for repeal.

Currently, the campaign to roll back AB 32 has received more than $1.5 million in contributions from Tesoro of San Antonio and Valero Energy. The proposition specifically calls for the climate bill to be suspended until the statewide unemployment rates drops nearly 8 percentage points to at least 5.5 percent for four consecutive quarters.

However, direct contributions are not the only avenues being pursued to affect the bill. Chevron, BP and Exxon have been quietly lobbying the state agencies – the California Air Resources Board, the California Energy Commission and California’s Environmental Protection Agency – that will shape and determine regulations such as those on greenhouse gas emissions, carbon content and the development of alternative fuels, all of which could cost oil and manufacturing companies millions.

"I’m not going to say we love this thing, but if that’s the way the state wants to go … we want to make sure that we write regulations that we can comply with and are feasible to do," Catherine Reheis-Boyd, president of the Western States Petroleum Association, told the paper.

Environmental groups, such as the Sierra Club, the American Lung Association and the Environmental Defense Action Fund have been comparatively outbid. While experts estimate that a large percentage of the $11 million that 10 oil companies and petroleum trade groups have spent lobbying in California went toward the law, environmental groups have only been able to spend a fraction of that amount – $737,000.

Proponents of repealing AB 32 have titled the campaign the "California Jobs Initiative," claiming that AB 32 will spike utility rates and fuel prices at a time when unemployment in the state has reached more than 12 percent, ABC News writes.

1. U.N. Secretary urges Senate to move ahead with climate change bill
2. Dems push climate bill through
3. Dow Chemical takes a hard line for the environment on energy bill
4. Senator suggests power-plant specific approach to energy bill
5. California climate team urges immediate action to protect against rising sea levels