Words of Praise for Passage of California Global Warming Bill

Posted: 08-Jul-2002; Updated: 15-Aug-2007

"The good guys won Monday, beating a slash-and-burn campaign by the auto industry in one of the Legislature's more titanic recent struggles. ...

"Opponents derided the effect California can have on a global problem, in that it accounts for just a small percentage of overall greenhouse gases. But with the world's fifth-largest economy, the state has an influence that cannot be denied. What happens here often becomes the norm for the rest of the country. The U.S. fight to offset the potentially catastrophic effects of warming has begun in the proper place."

Los Angeles Times Editorial (7/3/02)

"The California Legislature has taken a significant step toward reducing the rate of global warming."

San Francisco Chronicle Editorial (7/3/02)

"Despite the opposition rhetoric about Californians being thrown out of their cars, the bill got 81 percent support in a recent poll. It is not because environmentalists have frightened a gullible public. It is because, as this bill demonstrates, measures can be taken to moderate the threat of global warming with no threat at all of upending the economy."

San Jose Mercury News Editorial (7/4/02)

"California has long been more adventurous than even the federal government in pushing for cleaner cars, and over time this has benefited the nation as a whole because automakers have eventually decided to sell the cars they make for California in other markets.

"Once again, the country owes California a vote of thanks."

The New York Times Editorial (7/8/02)

"California has a chance to do for the nation what Congress has failed to do -- compel manufacturers to build cars that meet higher fuel-efficiency standards. The process can begin if Gov. Gray Davis signs into law a bill approved last week by the California Assembly, although new standards would face hurdles and wouldn't become reality for years.

"Notwithstanding the obstacles, we urge Gov. Davis to sign the bill. Approval would set in motion a chain of events that may lead to better fuel efficiency for all U.S. cars by 2009. This could reduce significantly the amount of carbon-dioxide emissions that are linked to global warming."

The Miami Herald Editorial (7/7/02)

"Car-happy California is leaping in where Congress fears to tread. But there's nothing foolish about its latest audacious move to curb the effects of its car culture. ...

"California's move, coming soon after Congress again demonstrated its inertia on fuel efficiency, gives the country - indeed the world - some needed momentum on the issue of CO₂ reduction."

Christian Science Monitor Editorial (7/10/02)

?With the federal government intent on doing nothing to address global warming, others have begun to fill the vacuum.?

Atlanta Journal-Constitution Editorial (7/10/02)

"National polling is finding a similar sentiment about decisive action. In a June poll done by Zogby International for the Union of Concerned Scientists, 76 percent of voters surveyed said the federal government should set standards to reduce the emissions of heat-trapping gases that cause global warming. In the same poll, 75 percent agreed with the statement that doing nothing about global warming is "irresponsible and short-sighted." Among respondents who identified themselves as Republicans, 65 percent agreed.

"And if the feds won't, the states can serve this kind of public sentiment to get serious about mitigating global warming."

St. Paul Pioneer Press Editorial (7/12/02)


"If the United States ever begins a serious effort to curtail greenhouse gases, much of the credit should go to the California legislators who this month approved a bill to limit carbon dioxide emissions from cars sold in that state. The action stands in striking contrast to the inaction of President Bush, who walked away first from his campaign pledge to limit carbon dioxide emissions by power plants and then from a report by his own Environmental Protection Agency on the threat of global warming.

"Industry lobbyists applied to the California lawmakers the same pressure for inaction used so successfully on the Bush administration. But the Californians did not cave in to it, and as a result the state is on track to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from their single biggest source: motor vehicles."
 
Boston Globe Editorial (7/14/02)



Links

• California Passes Landmark Greenhouse Gas Bill
• Environmental Defense Press Release (7/1/02)
• Send a message to Governor Gray Davis urging him to support this critical legislation to cool global warming
• Find out more about the bill, clean cars and climate change