Itty-bitty fee... huge benefits for California
Posted September 28, 2009 in Solving Global Warming
On Friday, the California Air Resources Board unanimously approved the AB 32 Cost of Implementation Fee Regulation, a minimal fee on the largest emitters of global warming pollution to help pay for California's ground-breaking efforts to reduce the pollution and move California forward in a fiscally responsible fashion.
When the California legislature passed AB 32: The California Global Warming Solutions Act, in 2006, they required that its implementation be fiscally responsible. So they wrote in a funding source, and authorized the Air Resources Board to collect a small fee to cover the costs of reducing global warming pollution in the state. This fee makes our efforts to stop global warming possible.
The fee will be very small (e.g. less than two-tenths of a cent ($0.002) per gallon of gas), but will bring big economic and health benefits to all Californians. It will:
- help people and small businesses reduce their energy bills at the same time they reduce their carbon footprints;
- give Californians the option to buy cleaner cars and fill them with cleaner fuels;
- give us the option to save time, money, and improve their health by not having to drive everywhere;
- provide more of our electricity from clean, renewable sources;
- reduce pollution, clean our air, and reduce health costs from pollution.
Not taking action on global warming could cost California tens of billions of dollars ($10,000,000,000.00) in damage to our real estate, infrastructure, and public health. Flooding, droughts, loss of hydropower because of droughts, increased electricity load because of hotter weather, the collapse of the California ski industry, will all hurt our economy and our health.
The fee will be charged on emitters of global warming pollution based on in state fossil-fuel production and carbon-emitting electricity generation. Clean sources of energy and small businesses will not be assessed a fee. If consumers notice the fee at all, it will be a bargain given the huge benefits of acting to stop global warming.
