Implementation Group looking for real solutions
A more accurate headline for the Jan. 17 article, "Group's 'green' facade crumbles" would have been "Attempted smear of climate change watchdog group fails miserably."
The AB 32 Implementation Group represents almost 200 diverse stakeholders, including the Kern County Taxpayers Association, who are constructively engaged in the public process of crafting policies that will help achieve the goals of California's Global Warming Solutions Act without bankrupting the families and businesses already struggling to survive a prolonged recession and record-high unemployment.
Your readers would have been better served if the reporter, rather than focusing on 2 percent of the group's membership's alleged doubts, had related what the group is worried about.
Economists at Sacramento State University recently concluded that the annual costs arising from AB 32 implementation are likely to result in the loss of more than $182 billion in gross state output, the equivalent of more than 1.1 million jobs, nearly $76.8 billion in labor income, and nearly $5.8 billion in indirect business taxes.
And the California Air Resources Board's own Economic Allocation and Advisory Committee projected significant energy cost increases and job losses from AB 32. The committee has suggested a new tax that could total $143 billion or so over 10 years to mitigate those impacts.
The unelected political appointees at CARB clearly are not focusing on the economic meltdown that will result from fiscally irresponsible emissions reduction policies.
The AB 32 Implementation Group should be commended for holding the agency accountable to the people who'll have to pay the bill.
MICHAEL TURNIPSEED
Executive Director, Kerntax
Bakersfield
