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2007 California Environmental Scorecard

Year In Review

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One of the most important and positive steps taken by the legislature and governor in 2007 was the implementation of AB 32, but it certainly was not without controversy. The governor’s budget proposed significant new spending for the Air Resources Board (ARB) to implement the new law, but some legislators and environmental groups thought the spending plan leaned too heavily toward getting a cap and trade system off the ground at the expense of early regulations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions—a conclusion supported by the governor’s exuberant public statements in favor of “market mechanisms.”

In the summer the Chair of the ARB, Dr. Robert Sawyer, and Executive Officer Catherine Witherspoon were none too gently pushed out of their jobs by the governor. The reasons are murky but they at least partly include controversy over the pace with which the ARB was adopting “early action measures” to implement AB 32. The surprising and happy outcome of the turmoil was the appointment of Mary Nichols as the new chair of the ARB. Nichols, a widely respected environmental leader who has held top jobs in California government and at US EPA—not to mention serving on the CLCV Board of Directors—quickly steadied the ship and took several decisive actions on behalf of the environment.

Next page: "What Got Left Behind"
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