CalCoast News

Governor keeps them guessing on environmental issues

Signing bills could boost green legacy

By Paul Rogers
San Jose Mercury News
October 8, 2007

Environmentalists and industry officials alike are holding their breath, waiting for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to act on a stack of environmental bills in the next few days that would do everything from require green building standards on new homes and commercial buildings to banning a controversial type of chemicals in children's toys.

Schwarzenegger has until Sunday to sign or veto all the bills that the state Legislature sent him this year.

And as in years past, Schwarzenegger is keeping both supporters and opponents of many of the top environmental issues guessing right until the end. His actions are harder to predict than previous governors, they say.

"Arnold is a celebrity. He loves some of these environmental issues," said John White, executive director of the Center for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Technologies, an environmental group in Sacramento.

"He has great command of the subjects in a speech-making kind of way. Environmentalists see him, unlike with (former Gov.) Pete Wilson, as 'there's always a chance with Arnold that you might get a bill signed.' He is a centrist."

Last year, Scwharzenegger won worldwide attention for signing AB 32, a law requiring California to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 25 percent by 2020. An end run around the Bush administration, that measure was opposed by the state's oil industry, utilities and other business groups.

Yet he also disappointed environmentalists by vetoing a bill that would have set a $30 fee on shipping containers coming into Los Angeles and Long Beach to fund programs to clean up diesel smog. Emissions from trucks and ships make the ports the largest stationary source of diesel pollution in California, linked to severe respiratory problems in thousands of people.

This year, there are roughly 15 significant bills on environmental issues that have reached the governor's desk.

"We hope that the governor is going to want to reinforce his environmental reputation by signing some of these key bills," said Bill Magavern, a lobbyist for the Sierra Club.

The bills include:

• AB 1108, by Assemblywoman Fiona Ma, D-San Francisco, which would ban chemicals called phthalates in toys and child-care products designed for children under 3 years old. The chemicals, which are used to soften plastic, have been linked in some studies to early onset of puberty, testicular cancer and liver problems. Opponents of the bill, including the American Chemistry Council, say that without phthalates, toys would become brittle and could pose a choking hazard. They also argue the studies showing health risks were done by giving rats massive doses - far more than children would receive through pacifiers, baby bottles and other products.

• AB 821, by Assemblyman Pedro Nava, D-Santa Barbara, which would ban lead bullets for hunters in the range of the California condor, which extends roughly from the Bay Area to Los Angeles. Recent studies by toxicologists at the University of California-Santa Cruz have shown that condors, a highly endangered species, have suffered lead poisoning after eating bullet fragments left in deer and wild pigs killed by hunters. Many hunting groups oppose the bill, saying that copper bullets cost more and don't fly as true.

• AB 1470, by Assemblyman Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael, which would create a $250 million annual subsidy for solar hot water heaters with the goal of installing 200,000 by 2017. The money would come from a surcharge on monthly utility bills that would be set by the California Public Utilities Commission. The bill is modeled after Schwarzenegger's "Million Solar Roofs" program, and is designed to cut natural gas use by encouraging people to install solar devices that heat the water for their homes.

One area of controversy is green buildings. There are three bills that would require green building standards. They are:

• AB 888, by Assemblyman Ted Lieu, D-El Segundo, which would require that starting in 2013, new commercial buildings over 50,000 square feet would have to meet the "gold" standard of the U.S. Green Building Council. The rule would affect everything from office buildings to supermarkets.

• AB 1058, by Assemblyman John Laird, D-Santa Cruz, which would require the state Building Standards Commission to set green building standards for new homes by 2010.

• AB 35, by Assemblyman Ira Ruskin, D-Los Altos, which would require the state EPA to set sustainable building standards by 2009 for the construction and renovation of state buildings so that they meet the 'silver' standard of the U.S. Green Building Council.

Supporters include most of the major environmental groups in California who argue that better insulation, more efficient lighting and other measures reduce energy use. Opponents include the California Chamber of Commerce and other business groups.

"We're very supportive of green building," said Bob Raymer, of the California Building Industry Association. "The problem here is that all three of these bills reference national guidelines, and each of them are put together by private sector groups. They don't go through any public scrutiny or comment process."

Raymer said that California is unique - with lots of earthquakes, landslides and fires - and should design its own standards.

This year, many of the top environmental measures stalled or died in the Legislature, particularly in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.

They include measures to require 33 percent of California's electricity to come from renewable sources, the $30 fee on shipping containers to reduce ports' smog, and AB 493, by Ruskin, which would have set fees of up to $2,500 on the sale of new vehicles that guzzle gas and emit high levels of carbon dioxide. The money would have funded rebates of up to $2,500 for people who purchase low-emission, fuel-efficient cars. The bill was defeated in the Legislature after intense lobbying from car dealers.

"Last year was clearly a better year," said Magavern of the Sierra Club. "It helps us when it's an election year.'