20 June 2006NBC 4
Global warming pollution increased 85 percent in the state over the past 40 years, members of an environmental group said Tuesday as they backed legislation aimed at cutting industrial emissions.
Environment California's report, titled "The Carbon Boom" and released at the Santa Monica Pier, analyzes government data to highlight trends in global warming.
The report found that global warming pollution in California increased 85 percent between 1960 and 2001, and the state ranks third in the nation for the largest increase in carbon dioxide emissions over those four decades.
The group's long-term goal is to bring the state back from the brink of a significant global warming disaster by 2050 by getting back to 1990 emission levels, according to Moira Chapin with Environment California.
Chapin said the report was released in support of Assembly Bill 32, which was introduced earlier this year and -- if it receives majority support -- could be on Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's desk by August.
"(The bill) targets some of the largest producers of global warming in the state like powerplants, refineries and large manufacturers," she said, "and it would require them to reduce their emissions by 25 percent by 2020."
If Schwarzenegger signs the bill, its provisions would go into effect by the start of next year. Schwarzenegger has voiced support for fighting global warming, but has yet to support this particular piece of legislation, Chapin said.
Those three categories of polluters make up nearly 60 percent of the state's global warming emissions, Chapin said, adding that some of the big utility companies oppose the bill because they "don't want to make any changes to the way they produce our energy."
She noted that her group has collected about 7,200 signatures from Californians in support of the bill.
"Never before has a global problem been so clearly stated at the same time that the solutions to it appear so visibly," said Eric Garcetti, Los Angeles City Council president. "The question is not with our science, but with ourselves: Do we have the political will to confront this problem with the ingenuity, passion and resources we know we have?"
Environment California noted that data released by NASA showed last year was the hottest year ever recorded.
"I think when most people hear that... you just can't dispute global warming," she said. "It's something (that's) not up for debate."
