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Pump Up Environmental Protection

Since his inauguration November 17, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's record on environmental issues has been encouraging. He has openly acknowledged the importance of protecting the environment and, refuting a common anti-environmental argument, noted in his first State of the State address that job creation does not conflict with environmental protection. CLCV will extend Governor Schwarzenegger our full support when he takes meaningful action on environmental issues but will hold him accountable when he strays from the best interests of Californians.

Our first priority was to urge Schwarzenegger to work with the environmental community by making strong appointments. The most hopeful early sign is that Terry Tamminen, his new Cal-EPA Secretary, is a lifelong environmentalist and will ensure that the environment has a seat at the table in the administration. CLCV helped avert potential future environmental disaster by persuading Schwarzenegger to scuttle his initial nominations for Resources Secretary (a post that oversees dozens of environmental agencies). Reported candidates were former Secretary of State Bill Jones (with a lifetime 23% CLCV score, now running for Senate) and Representative Doug Ose (with an average 12.5% LCV score since 1999). Instead, the new Resources Secretary is Michael Chrisman, a member of the Fish and Game Commission described by many as “fair-minded.”

In addition, CLCV and 13 other environmental and public health groups recently recognized Governor Schwarzenegger's effort to preserve the California Air Resources Board's regulations on small engines in lawn and garden equipment. Senator Kit Bond (R-Missouri), at the behest of lawnmower maker Briggs and Stratton, attached a rider to a routine spending bill that would have stripped California's ability to regulate small off-road engines below 25 horsepower. Schwarzenegger's intervention stopped the lawnmower rider and preserved California's ability to set stronger air quality standards, pending Congress' final passage of the omnibus spending bill.

Governor Schwarzenegger's environmental platform, with Tamminen the key architect, is ambitious. (Read his platform here.) He promises to cut California's air pollution by 50%, protect the state's global warming legislation, promote a speedy adoption of the state's renewable energy mandate, and protect our forests by implementing the Sierra Nevada Accord, among other promises.

His action plan for California's environment addresses many issues that are important to Californians, but does not identify specific resources required for effective implementation. His "Hydrogen Highways" program, for instance, would make hydrogen fueling stations available every 20 miles on our main highways, provided funding is earmarked for this ambitious project and automakers respond by making hydrogen-fueled vehicles. As with the current Bush administration, we must ensure that "green" rhetoric does not disguise inaction or, worse, weakening of environmental policy and its fundamental enforcement. Further, his proposed budget includes little, if any, of the vision he has laid out in his Environmental Action Plan. Large parts of the state's natural resource protection programs, for example, suffer from a structural funding shortfall that must be resolved with a stable, long-term source of funding. We must demonstrate to Governor Schwarzenegger that continuation of the status quo for these fund-starved programs is not acceptable.

What You Can Do

Governor Schwarzenegger told us we didn't have to worry about the environment under his administration, and environmentalists' input has already influenced Schwarzenegger's decisions. Please write letters urging him to keep his promises of strong environmental enforcement, and to not compromise funding to environmental programs and enforcement of protections when adjusting the budget.

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
State Capitol Building
Sacramento, CA 95814
Phone: 916-445-2841
Fax: 916-558-3160
Email the Governor using his web form at http://www.govmail.ca.gov/.

© 2008 California League of Conservation Voters. Contact us.