Assemblymember Henry Perea’s Bill Prioritizes Oil Profits, Undermines Critical Public Health Protections for Californians

NEWS RELEASE

July 3, 2014           

Contact:
Shira Silver, 202-572-3254, ssilver@edf.org

“Assemblymember Henry Perea’s bill to stall the inclusion of transportation fuels under California’s cap-and-trade program (AB 69) is an 11^th-hour effort to appease big oil interests at the expense of his own constituents and all Californians. As the Supreme Court’s decision this week to deny appeal of the Low Carbon Fuel Standard demonstrates, oil companies are standing in the way of innovation by frivolously exhausting every option to block popular policies to fight climate change and protect Californians’ health.

As an elected official from a region with the country’s worst particulate air pollution, high unemployment, and disproportionate risk from climate change, Assemblymember Perea should lead the effort to spur economic development, create jobs and reduce pollution from its largest source in the state, rather than slashing investments in vulnerable communities and fighting against cleaner air.”

-Derek Walker, Associate Vice President, US Climate and Energy Program, EDF