California Braces for Showdown on Emissions

[TomCADem]

Source: NY Times

LOS ANGELES — A ballot initiative to suspend a milestone California law curbing greenhouse gas emissions is drawing a wave of contributions from out-of-state oil companies, raising concerns among conservationists as it emerges as a test of public support for potentially costly environmental measures during tough economic times.

Charles and David Koch, the billionaires from Kansas who have played a prominent role in financing the Tea Party movement, donated $1 million to the campaign to suspend the Global Warming Solutions Act, which was passed four years ago, and signaled that they were prepared to invest more in the cause. With their contribution, proponents of the proposition have raised $8.2 million, with $7.9 million coming from energy companies, most of them out of state.

This latest embrace by the Koch brothers of a conservative cause jolted environmental leaders who are worried that a vote against the law in this state — with its long history of environmental activism — would amount to a powerful setback for emission control efforts in Washington and statehouses across the country.

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The campaign against California’s greenhouse gas law comes as business groups have invested heavily across the country in trying to defeat members of Congress who voted for a cap-and-trade bill that also mandated emission reductions; the bill passed the House but failed in the Senate in the face of strong opposition from lawmakers in industrial states.



Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/17/us/17pollute.html?_r=1&hp

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The amouont contributed by the Koch brothers does not include the amounts contributed by out of state oil companies to try to defeat California's alternative energy laws. Who killed the electric car? In California, it may very well be the voters who were duped by oil companies trying to protect their energy monopoly through the passage of Proposition 23.

I bet the next media campaign is to convince liberals to blame environmentalists, the way some progressives blame Democrats for Republican opposition.

[SoapBox]

1. No, No, NO on Prop. 23...tell the KKKoch Brothers to piss off!

This whole measure is cooked up by OUT OF CALIFORNIA interests...BIG oil and the filthy rich.

Get the hell out of my state and leave us alone!

VOTE NO on Prop. 23!!!

http://www.stopdirtyenergyprop.com/

p.s...As a reminder, PG&E, ya know them, the company that blew up the San Bruno neighborhood, destroying home and kills several...Remember, they spent MILLIONS to try and pass a ballot measure this past Spring, in California!

http://articles.latimes.com/2009/dec/28/business/la-fi-hiltzik28-2009dec28

Instead of fixing one of their "Top 100" most dangerous lines...they spent the money on trying to buy their
way, at the ballot box! Kinda like NutMeg Whitman!

Big oil? Big power?

Piss off!

[JDPriestly]

2. K&R