AB 32: Resist attempts to undercut California's landmark clean energy law

By Michael Mielke Originally appearing in the San Jose Mercury News For years, California's largest greenhouse gas emitters have known what was coming under AB 32, our state's pioneering climate and clean energy law. Many have planned accordingly and have been doing things like implementing energy efficiency programs that positively impact the bottom line. However, some are making a last-ditch effort to change the rules. The Silicon Valley Leadership Group represents almost 400 businesses, including a growing number of cleantech companies. Collectively, our members have created almost one-third of the private-sector jobs in Silicon Valley and contribute more than $3 trillion to the economy worldwide. They have seen what happens when companies don't keep up with an evolving marketplace. Imagine if a number of Silicon Valley companies insisted on, say, sticking to a future based on hard-wired desktop computers. Sure there's a market, and there probably always will be. But it would be unwise for any technology company to ignore the wireless and mobile revolution that is creating whole new markets. That's what some entities regulated under AB 32 are doing; sticking to old ways of doing business while the world is changing around us all. Time after time, in vote after vote and poll after poll, Californians have made it clear that they want more choices and cleaner options for getting where they want to go. They are echoing worldwide trends. It is futile to hold back this tide. It is also unwise at this date to change plans for implementing AB 32 and slow the advance of technologies that offer consumers more choices to suit their changing transportation needs. Gas is a global commodity, and fuel prices fluctuate wildly in response to events like the current turmoil in the Middle East. Contrary to what you may have heard, there is nothing in AB 32 that requires gas prices go up. Under AB 32, fuel producers have to either clean up their greenhouse gas emissions, or pay for their pollution with emissions permits that are traded in a market. This is something other economic sectors -- including electric utilities and large industrial facilities -- already have done to meet AB 32 requirements. The technology sector sees climate change as a problem to be solved. The cap and trade mechanism set up under AB 32 is a flexible, market-based approach for putting a price on carbon. Companies across our state have made major investments based on the law's structure and schedule, including bringing transportation fuels under the cap in 2015. Changing the rules now would introduce uncertainty into the market, undermining innovation and investment. And if some entities get a pass, other sectors would be forced to bear a disproportionate share of the responsibility for meeting our state's emission-reduction targets, and that's not fair. Our state's energy efficiency policies -- including the Low Carbon Fuel Standard and the promise of bringing transportation fuels under the emissions cap -- will, in the long run, diversify fuel sources and save businesses and consumers money, while giving them more transportation choices. That will help California's economy continue to grow and thrive as one of the most energy-efficient, least carbon-intensive economies in the world. Our groundbreaking clean energy and clean air policies are working like they're supposed to. Now is not the time to mess with the market signals and penalize businesses that are playing by well-established rules to drive us to an even more efficient, cleaner, profitable economy. Michael Mielke is Vice President for Environmental Programs and Policy at the Silicon Valley Leadership Group. He wrote this for this newspaper.

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AB 32: Resist attempts to undercut California’s landmark clean energy law

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