Green Chamber Partners with New Business Alliance to Support Implementation of California’s AB 32

• August 18th, 2009 by Lesley Lammers
• Posted in: Advocacy, Green Chamber of Commerce
• 3 Comments ·
 

The Business Alliance for a Green Economy is thrilled to collaborate with the Green Chamber in a new campaign to harness business support for full implementation of the Global Warming Solutions Act (AB 32). By joining in this effort, your business can amplify the growing number of voices saying “yes” to California’s clean energy future. The Green Chamber has offered to host the campaign on its site in order to provide businesses the opportunity to sign up and take action.

But first, let’s do a quick recap on AB 32 and why you should care about this campaign. This innovative bill was signed into law in 2006 – it establishes a first-in-the-world comprehensive program of regulatory and market mechanisms to achieve real, qualifiable, cost-effective reductions of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Currently, the regulation is in the “scoping plan” implementation phase which means the California Air Resources Board has to roll its sleeves up and figure out just how to reach those low levels. For a detailed crash course, see the official scoping plan.

The bill is under serious threat by dirty energy industries and groups whose chief concern is maintaining the status quo and thus our dependence of fossil fuels. One such organization misleadingly calls itself the AB 32 Implementation Group. Their goal is to stop the progression of AB 32 by arguing that the GHG reductions it calls for will come at the expense of California businesses and jobs. They claim that now is a bad time to force businesses to spend more money to address climate change.

The Business Alliance for a Green Economy believes that now is in fact the perfect time to tackle global warming because with this climate security plan, California can actually help businesses save money — by cutting down on energy and water bills with more efficient technology, increasing worker productivity and decreasing employee sick days because of less air pollution, and creating thousands of jobs due to a new green economy – just to name a few advantages. Still not convinced? Check out this fact sheet that lays out why successful AB 32 implementation is not just good for the planet, but good for business.

By signing this Statement of Principles, you will be helping to create a strong network of businesses who want to ensure that AB 32 is held up to the highest standards. There is no time or resource commitment. However, if you want to be more engaged, The Business Alliance will keep you posted on activities such as opportunities for writing public comment, testifying at hearings, signing op/eds and letters to editors, etc. If you have any questions, feel free to contact Susan Frank at greenbizalliance@gmail.com. Join the Business Alliance for a Green Economy and support California’s clean energy vision!