California Abandons Plan for 50 percent Oil Reduction

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Heartland:

In what can only be seen as a significant setback for California environmentalists, Gov. Jerry Brown and Senate Democrats scrapped a plan to cut in petroleum use in the state by 50 percent by 2030 -- a centerpiece of California's emissions legislation. The petroleum cut was one part of a larger plan intended to result in an 80 percent reduction in carbon dioxide emissions from 1990 levels by 2050. California's ambitious program had become a showpiece for environmentalists across the United States.

 

Gov. Jerry Brown (D) and his allies in the Senate blamed an intense campaign against the mandate by the oil industry for its failure.

 

‘Rationing, Vehicle Bans’ Threatened

 

The measure passed the Democratic-controlled Senate but faced almost certain defeat in the state Assembly. Although Democrats also control the lower house, Assembly Democrats tend to represent economically struggling parts of the state. The assembly heeded warnings a mandated 50 percent reduction in oil use would result in higher fuel and electricity costs and could possibly even lead to fuel rationing and bans on sport utility vehicles.

 

Kevin de Leon (Los Angeles) the Senate Democratic leader and main sponsor of the bill said he would remove the petroleum requirement from it while leaving two other sections in place, one mandating half of all the state’s energy come from renewable resources by 2030, and the other measure to doubling the energy efficiency in older buildings.