PCL Insider: News from the Capitol

AN “EXTRAORDINARY” IDEA ABOUT WATER POLICY: PUT PRINCIPLES FIRST

Until recently, water policy discussions underway at the State Capitol were only "extraordinary" in the purely legislative sense of the word – they're taking place in the context of the Second Extraordinary Session of the State Legislature (sometimes referred to as a "special session") called by the Governor earlier this month to focus on water issues.

As an example, the Governor's proposed water bond doesn't advance "exceptionally" good ideas. In fact, it proposes spending over $5 billion on costly and environmentally destructive dams that would do virtually nothing to address the very real water quality, water supply, and water reliability problems confronting California.

On the other hand, Senate President pro Tem Don Perata has a much better set of proposals that target funding to solutions that address our real problems, and direct dollars to cost-effective, high yield projects that can be implemented quickly. In fact, PCL and over twenty other environmental groups support Perata's approach.

Well, earlier this week something else happened that may actually be extraordinary in the more conventional sense of the word (i.e., "unusual"). On behalf of Assembly leadership, Assembly Member John Laird introduced ABXX 2, which proposes a set of investment principles to guide future water related spending. These are pretty good principles, proposing, among other things, that any expenditure of public money promotes:

"...improvements to water quality, including both the protection of watersheds that produce the state's water supply and the use of the latest water treatment technology, before and after use, in accordance with a comprehensive strategy that ensures long-term sustainability."

PCL supports the idea that principles and policy should accompany projects. In other words, before the public is asked to approve billions of dollars in new borrowing, we ought to know what we're trying to accomplish, and make clear that we've got our priorities straight. Should Perata's funding package merge with Laird's principle package, we would indeed have something extraordinary.

If you'd like to get involved in all the extraordinary things happening in water policy (in all senses of the word), please mark your calendar for Thursday, October 4th at 9:30 a.m. when the Senate Natural Resources and Water Committee holds an informational hearing in Room 112 at the State Capitol. The hearing will focus on various legislative proposals, including the Governor's multi-billion dollar proposal for new dams (as advanced in SBXX 3, introduced by Senators Cogdill and Ackerman).

For more details, read PCL's comments on the various bond proposals (signed by more than twenty grassroots groups) or contact PCL's Water Program Manager Mindy McIntyre at mmcintyre@pcl.org. And stay tuned for the latest prognostications about this extraordinarily important legislative session!

LIGHTEN THEIR BURDEN: HELP REQUESTED TO DISTRIBUTE 500,000 COMPACT FLUORESCENTS

Ah, compact fluorescent light bulbs. Besides trimming greenhouse gas emissions, these super-sweet spiral-shaped socket stuffers also help slim down our bloated utility bills. And yet there are still a few Californians out there who have yet to see the (CFL) light. That's why Sierra Club has partnered with the California Public Utility Commission and PG&E, to distribute 500,000 compact fluorescent light bulbs for free to members of the general public living within the PG&E service area!

But, they can't do it alone. They need your help for the largest bulb distribution drive in the history of mankind. It's easy to do; hand them out at your next environmental event, bring them to a city council meeting, or just take them door to door like a reverse Halloween trick-or-treat!

There's some fine print – the bulbs come in bulk so you might want to team up with other local organizations. And they must be distributed to individuals in the service area of PG&E. The sign-up period ends this week so please contact the Sierra Club's Kristy Levings at (916) 557-1100 ext. 110 or levings@sierraclub-sac.org to become a distribution partner.

READER INPUT: GOVERNORS TELL AUTO EXECS TO DROP WARMING SUIT - TIME TO BOYCOTT NEW CARS?

Our thanks to an Insider reader who's steamed up about the Auto Industry's efforts to stop California and other states from reducing greenhouse gas emissions from new cars and trucks!

He just let us know about a September 12th letter sent by the governors of thirteen states to the Chief Executive Officers of General Motors, Chrysler, Ford, Toyota, Honda, and Nissan, urging the Auto Execs to drop their resistance to stronger emission standards. As you'll probably remember, in 2002 California passed AB 1493, which requires automakers to help fight global warming by cleaning up the tailpipe emissions from new cars and trucks. Even as more states adopt California's law, the automakers keep fighting it, and, shockingly, they've been getting support from the Bush administration.

Our Insider reader also suggests that we all tell the automakers that we're just not going to buy any more new cars until the automakers start meeting the standards that California has set. What do you think about a boycott on new car purchases? Give your input to PCL's Global Warming Program Manager, Matt Vander Sluis at mvander@pcl.org.