A butterfly flaps its wings…

by Megan Fluke

The man responsible for my being employed once said, “tug on anything once and you find it connected to everything in the universe.”  John Muir was onto something when he said this. Today I find myself reflecting on the debate over whether it’s more important to protect our environment or our economy during these turbulent times.

Last September, Meg Whitman announced her climate change strategy if elected as California’s governor in 2010: her first act as governor would be to suspend the state’s pioneering climate change law, AB32. Signed by (Republican) Governor Schwarzenegger in 2006, AB32 provides market-based incentives to reduce carbon emissions to 1990 levels by the year 2020- a 25 percent reduction.  What terrifies me about Whitman’s move is that it was an intentional, GOP-advised political strategy to gain support from California voters.

This past month, the “the AB 32 Implementation Group” began to collect signatures to suspend implementation of AB 32, until unemployment holds at or below 5.5% for four consecutive quarters, a rare occurrence even for good economic times.  Members of this inappropriately named group are listed here: http://www.ab32ig.com/members.htm,  they include:

• numerous chambers of commerce,  taxpayers, realty and builders groups,
• the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers,
• the American Chemistry Council (also oppose limits on plastic bags)
• the American Coalition For Clean Coal Electricity (clean coal does not currently exist),
• the Automotive Aftermarket Association,
• Sempra Energy,
• etc.

A local activist in Sunnyvale, Barbara Fukumoto, responded, “It looks to me like they are already well-organized and well-funded, even though they are just in the signature collection phase. It also looks to me like the organization is less-than-honest with a misleading name and cultivation of the appearance that they just want to slow down implementation until the economy improves when the actual result of this initiative would check forward momentum to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and stop implementation for the foreseeable future.”

Thank goodness for the Silicon Valley Leadership Group, who published an op-ed in the San José Mercury News this past week in support of AB 32:  http://www.mercurynews.com/opinion/ci_14368056?nclick_check=1.   The president and CEO of SBC Financial and member of the Silicon Valley Leadership groups points out that this initiative would “hurt emerging industries, cripple job development, and threaten our environment. I hope you will consider posting a comment in support.  There are many posted opposed. Might be the most important thing you do this week for the climate.

Dr. Peter Tsigaris, an economist at Thompson Rivers University, says it better than I: “whether or not climate change can be wholly attributed to human factors, it makes strong business and environmental sense to take action and mitigate the effects of global warming beyond taking measures to adopt.”  Tsigaris estimates that addressing global warming by changing our dependency on fossil fuels and other behavior would cost an estimated one percent of global Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per year, while taking no action could cost 5 percent of global GDP each year. Extreme climate change could result in a cost of 20 percent GDP or greater.  

So what are we supposed to do?  First off, I urge you not to sign this petition or vote for Meg Whitman.  Other than her promised first act as governor, she acts with similar logic as our former president, George W. Bush.   

Next, support local efforts to meet AB32 goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.   

There are a number of local organizations that are working to meet AB32 targets through better land use planning that reduces dependence on the automobile, as outlined by SB375.  One is the Loma Prieta Chapter of the Sierra Club’s Building Climate-Friendly Communities Campaign, which is working to increase public support for vibrant, walkable, transit-accessible places to live and work. This campaign focuses grouping new homes, jobs and shops close to train stations and bus stops to create healthy, walkable communities with less traffic and homes we can all afford.  Similar campaigns include the Silicon Valley Leadership Group, Housing Leadership Council, and Greenbelt Alliance.  Check them out, get involved, make a difference.  John Muir would be proud of you.