Good for California

I suppose I should be upset that California has voted to cut greenhouse gas emissions, the latest in a series of wins for the Democratic-controlled legislature in the state. I'm supposed to be upset because, as a rabid partisan animal, anything that gives the Governor a victory, symbolic or not, helps his re-election chances and hurts those of his opponent, Phil Angelides. Because it's all about winning with folks like me, and I'm simply too stubborn to look past politics for even one second to look at the issue on its own terms.

Except that I breathe. And as a breather, my being able to breathe, and continue to live on this planet with other people who like to breathe, and who won't be threatened by the potentially disastrous effects of climate change, is of paramount importance. The bill will use a "cap-and-trade" market-based solution to force polluters in the state to either reduce emissions (by 25% over the next 14 years), or pay significant amounts in noncompliance penalties, or trade with other companies who fall under the targets for the right to produce more emissions. There are also safeguards to exempt the standards for up to a year in the event of a state catastrophe. That sounds curiously like last years Prop.76, which would have allowed the governor basically to line-item out spending on education and health care and any other entitlement in the event of a "budget emergency."

But compromise is often how things get done in our political system. Although this so-called "grand compromise" between a Democratic legislative majority and a Republican governor really isn't much of one. The ENTIRE Republican caucus in the State Senate voted against it, and the ENTIRE Republican caucus in the Assembly is likely to follow suit. This is exactly the same scenario as the minimum wage (without a COLA adjustment) bill, which all but one Republican (Abel Maldonado) refused to support. These deals represent a compromise between a dominant Democratic legislature and a neutered puppy of a Governor who needs to go along with this stuff to save his job.

I applaud Dom Perata and Fabian Nunez for recognizing that this Governor was at his lowest ebb of power, and deciding that now was the time to get something done for the state. It would be a tragedy to hold fire because of an election year while the climate crisis continues and the federal government remains unconcerned with doing anything about it. Progressive legislative agendas at the state level have a way of bubbling up to the surface and eventually forcing themselves onto the federal stage. And California is the world's 12th-largest producer of greenhouse gas emissions, so the victory is not symbolic but tangible.

The politics of this are of less concern to me than ensuring our children's future by fighting global warming today. Phil Angelides has a tough sell, but would be right in saying that he supports the same basic goals and would go further in making California the world leader in the alternative clean energy industry. Where he would be even righter is to note that not one Republican in both State Houses supported this legislation. "Do you want a Democrat or Democrat-lite?" is the question. Leading Democrats are making progress on a wide range of legislation. Republicans are obstructing all of it, to a man. If Arnold Schwarzenegger is re-elected and he is unconstrained by the voters, will he shift again to the side of pretty much every member of his party?

But for now, I say, good for California, for doing something to protect the environment and help save the planet.

P.S. It's been a week now since the Honest Corporate Tax Reporting Act reached the governor's desk. Will he sign, veto, or just misplace?

And while both candidates have come out against Shiela Kuehl's universal health care bill, which candidate has consistently fought against any measure that expands health insurance for Californians? There are plenty of points of contrast, despite the neutered puppy's lurches leftward attempting to curry favor with the dominant ideology in the state.