Have you guys heard of what's going on in Sacramento?
In Nov there is a vote going on to suspend a bill (Global Warming Act of 2006) that voted to reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions back to the levels of 1990 by 2020. That is an INCREDIBLE accomplishment with all the industrialization that has occurred in the last 3 decades. Right now Sacramento is one of the Top 5 cleanest cities in the US and they aimed to created 100,000 new "Green" Jobs in promoting a better Health Living Environment to its citizens and the Smog free landscape the Local Governments are proud of. So why is this being brought up for debate?
Some people seem to think this is a plot of Greed by the Big Business Oil/Gas Companies to pad their pockets with profits. This Proposition would effectively eliminate the mandate of investing in New Age Fuel sources and cut crucial emissions testing costs leaving the Fossil Fuelers with far less overhead. I would usually be one to dismiss conspiracy theories if I hadn't come across the fact that Valero and Tesoro, two Texas based Oil companies gave a total exceeding $5.5mil in support to promote the bill which would not have made it to the next Nov election without it. Probable Fact? Maybe Not. Interesting? Definitely.
Others say it is simply a course of action needed to ensure jobs will be created. In 2007 the unemployment rate was below 5.5% but since then we have had a HUGE recession. The last census in the 1st quarter of 2010 noted the unemployment rate exceeded 12%, with 8 of 58 Californian counties over 20%. Now by itself that doesn't mean much, but when you couple it with the fact that the Board charged with enforcing the original act said it would have created 100,000 jobs in 2008 and in March of this year they have revised their estimate to 10,000...
I'm not saying that California should ignore the fastest growing job market in the last 2 years, but when your estimate is off by 90% then clearly whoever is running this program is incompetent and should not be allowed to manage the program any further.
Either way there is a serious decision that needs to be made. Do we
A) Tread through unemployment to achieve the greater good of keeping air clean for future generations and strengthen our foothold on energy independence.
OR
B) Forego the long term goal for immediate gratification and overall better living now.
Clean Air and increased homelessness from being evicted, or make more money to spend on Health Care bills from Smog related ailments.
Decisions, Decisions... Which would you choose?
