[Water_news] 1. DWR'S CALIFORNIA WATER NEWS - Top Item for 5/20/08

Department of Water Resources

California Water News

A daily compilation for DWR personnel of significant news articles and comment

 

May 20, 2008

 

1.  Top Items -

 

Witness links White House to EPA rejection of California’s emission rules

Sacramento Bee

 

State's top finance officials push for cutting greenhouse gas emissions

Sacramento Bee

 

Big investors seek stricter U.S. climate laws

Reuters

 

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Witness links White House to EPA rejection of California’s emission rules

Sacramento Bee – 5/20/08

By Chris Bowman, staff writer

 

The head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency supported California's request for a waiver allowing the state to enforce its own curbs on global warming emissions from vehicles, but reversed himself after talking with White House officials, according to a key witness at a congressional investigation.

 

"The record before this committee suggests that the White House played a pivotal role in the (EPA) decision to reject the California petition," said a 20-page summary of an investigation by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, chaired by Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Los Angeles.

 

The report, made available Monday, noted that it would be a "serious breach" of the Clean Air Act if President Bush or other White House officials directed the EPA "to ignore the record before the agency and deny California's petition for political or other inappropriate reasons."

 

The key committee witness on the reversal, EPA Associate Deputy Administrator Jason Burnett, testified that he was directed not to identify the White House officials or answer any other questions about White House involvement in the agency's recent decision that blocked California's landmark law.

 

That law, Assembly Bill 1493, was enacted in 2002 and was to take effect with 2009 model year cars and passenger trucks. It is key to the state's crusade against climate change: Cutting motor vehicle emissions of carbon dioxide would account for one-sixth of the greenhouse gas reductions required by California's other global warming law, Assembly Bill 32, which Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed in 2006.

 

California, and 15 states that enacted identical vehicle emissions laws, sued the Bush administration to win the right to enforce exhaust limits.

 

Questions about White House intervention began to surface soon after Dec. 19, when EPA administrator Stephen Johnson announced his decision not to grant the California waiver.

 

Johnson and Susan Dudley, administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs at the White House, are expected to testify before the oversight committee today.

 

"This is nothing new from the committee," said EPA press secretary Jonathan Shradar. "Administrator Johnson was presented with and reviewed a wide range of options and made his decision based on the facts and the law."

 

Shradar did not respond when asked whether Johnson initially supported fully or partially granting the waiver request.

 

"Administrator Johnson has been clear that he made an independent decision," White House spokeswoman Emily Lawrimore said on Monday when asked about the congressional committee's memo.

 

After the Dec. 19 decision, the Washington Post quoted anonymous sources saying Johnson had overruled the unanimous opinion of his legal and technical staff in blocking California's effort. Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., later released internal EPA documents in which agency staff members urge higher-ups to approve California's request.

 

The House report released Monday is the first to yield evidence suggesting White House influence in denying California the permission it needs to limit greenhouse gases from tailpipes.

 

In testimony before committee members, Burnett said his boss, Johnson, was very "interested in a full grant of the waiver" last summer and then thought a partial grant of the waiver "was the best course of action," according to the committee report.

 

Burnett said Johnson's position did not change until after he communicated with the White House.

 

Burnett also said there was "White House input into the rationale in the Dec. 19th letter" announcing the denial of California's waiver.

 

Among the 27,000 EPA documents congressional investigators gathered and examined in five months was a briefing prepared by the EPA's lead staff lawyer, who stated, "After review of the docket and precedent, we don't believe there are any good arguments against granting the waiver. All of the arguments … are likely to lose in court if we are sued."

 

The report fueled the ire of Boxer, who said the EPA action was directed by the White House.

 

"Clearly the Bush administration at the highest levels killed the California waiver," Boxer said. "The people of California and the other states have a right to know how this indefensible decision happened, and we demand that EPA and the Bush White House turn over the documents we have asked for immediately."#

http://www.sacbee.com/111/story/951519.html

 

State's top finance officials push for cutting greenhouse gas emissions

Sacramento Bee – 5/20/08

By Jon Ortiz, staff writer

 

California's two leading public pension funds and two of its top finance officials Tuesday morning urged the U.S. Senate to pass legislation to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

 

The California Public Employees' Retirement System, the California State Teachers' Retirement System, state Controller John Chiang, state Treasurer Bill Lockyer and another 48 government and financial leaders from across the country also urged that the government require publicly-traded companies disclose climate change risks and opportunities as part of their financial reporting.

 

The group, which collectively manages $2.3 trillion in assets, issued a letter to Senate leaders. It calls for a national climate policy to cut the nation's greenhouse gas emissions over the next 40 years to as little as 5 percent of 1990's levels.

 

The Senate next month will debate a bill that sets similar emissions reduction goals.

Ceres, a coalition of business and environmental organizations, and the Investor Network on Climate Risk, an investment firm alliance, organized the letter's signatories.#

http://www.sacbee.com/111/story/953012.html

 

Big investors seek stricter U.S. climate laws

By Rachelle Younglai

REUTERS

 

WASHINGTON – Investors managing more than $2.3 trillion urged the government Tuesday to enact strict laws to cut greenhouse gas emissions, saying lax regulation could hurt the competitiveness of U.S. companies.

 

The group of some 50 investors, including the world's biggest listed hedge fund firm, Man Group Plc and influential venture capitalist John Doerr, want U.S. lawmakers to pass laws to reduce climate-warming emissions by at least 60 to 90 percent by 2050.

 

Legislation that promotes new and existing clean technologies on the scale needed to dramatically cut down pollution is needed, they said.

The same group of investors are also pushing the Securities and Exchange Commission to force publicly-traded companies to disclose climate-related risks along with other factors that affect their business.

 

“Establishing a strong national climate policy for emissions reductions will help investors manage the enormous risks and opportunities posed by global warming,” Anne Stausboll, Calpers' interim chief investment officer, said in a statement.

 

Calpers is the largest U.S. pension fund with about $250 billion in assets under management.

 

Investors said the lack of strong federal laws may hurt U.S. competitiveness because it is preventing companies from making large-scale capital investments in clean energy such as solar and wind power and other low-carbon technologies and practices.

 

Randall Edwards, Oregon's treasurer, said Europe and individual U.S. states are tackling climate change and it was time for federal lawmakers to step up to the task.

“It's a huge job opportunity,” said Edwards, who managed about $80 billion in assets as of March 31. “It will be a shifting economy. No economy is static.”

The European Union is aiming to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 20 percent by 2020 and increase the share of wind, solar, hydro, wave power and biofuels in their energy mix by the same date.

 

The investors' letter, addressed to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, comes ahead of Senate debate on legislation aimed at limiting the carbon emissions that spur climate change.

 

The bill, America's Climate Security Act of 2007, also includes a provision that would require the SEC to craft a rule requiring companies to disclose material risks relating to climate change.

 

Treasurers and controllers for California, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont, as well as the California State Teachers' Retirement System are among those that signed the letter. #

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/science/20080520-0700-environment-investors-.html