AB32

Governor Schwarzenegger signing AB 32 into law.

It is great that California voters overwhelmingly defeated Proposition 23, the initiative that would not let AB32, the global warming law, go into effect unless the state unemployment rate falls below 5.5 percent.  Californians sent a clear message that they support legislation to take on climate change, even though the federal government hasn't managed to pass a comprehensive climate and energy package.

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger of California addressing the 194-nation U.N. climate talks (United Nations)

As the clock winds down, and countries are nowhere near an agreement, subnational leaders from Canada, Nigeria, France and Algeria, led by California's "Gubernator," announced today in a press conference at Bella that they plan to advance the concept of a new regional coalition to fast track the results of the Copenhagen negotiations.

The final AB 1404 Scoreboard

In a narrow 21-to-19 vote on Saturday, the California Senate passed AB 1404, which would strictly limit offsets in California's global warming program and entirely exclude the CDM!

This landmark bill would make the California legislature the first US governmental body to put such strict limits on the use of offsets. According to Erin Rogers of the Union of Concerned Scientists,

By limiting the use of offsets, AB 1404 will ensure that polluters invest in solutions here in California. (Bill Pottinger)

Sometime this week, the California Senate is expected to vote on a bill that addresses the role of offsets in the state's landmark global warming policies.

CA leading the way for air quality, environmental justice, and real emissions reductions.

International Rivers has endorsed a bill currently under consideration by Californian legislators that would seriously limit the use of offsets within the state's planned carbon trading system, and totally ban the use of credits from the UN's Clean Development Mechanism. Assembly Bill 1404, or the Global Warming, Compliance Offsets and Air Quality in California bill, was introduced by Assembly Members Kevin De León and Manuel Pérez, both Southern California Democrats