Oil Refineries Fight Against California Environmental Law

Oil refiners are hard at work to combat and suspend a crucial
California environmental law that requires companies to reduce their
carbon footprint. This opposition has gotten supporters of clean
technology to fight back to make sure this law stays intact and that
oil refineries are held accountable to follow the regulations to
reduce their amount of pollution.Proposition 23, an initiative on the
November ballot, would suspend the 2006 law that requires greenhouse
gas emissions in the state to be reduced to 1990 levels by 2020. This
law was the first of its kind in the United States to cut down on
greenhouse emissions and force strict regulations on oil refineries to
comply.If this law is suspended, it will make it that much more
difficult for any other state in the future to push through
legislation to combat pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, and move
forward with cleaner technologies to replace the heavy use of oil.Oil
refiners Valero Energy Corp. and Tesoro Corp., both based in San
Antonio, have given about $4 million and $1.5 million so far in
support of Prop. 23. Earlier this month, an oil refining subsidiary of
Koch Industries Inc. contributed $1 million, according to the
filings.Refiners are among the biggest emitters of greenhouse gases in
California, and would incur high costs to comply with the law, known
as AB 32. It is obvious that these companies want to avoid paying any
more costs, so they are trying to throw as much money at the situation
as they can to attempt to convince legislators that them saving some
money is more important to the nation rather than reducing the amount
of pollution the release into the atmosphere.At the same time,
environmental groups and individuals, including clean-technology
investors, have made a stand to oppose Proposition 23. Both the former
Secretary of State, George Shultz, and California Governor Arnold
Schwarzenegger are also highly vocal opponents of Prop. 23, and have
expressed their support of cleaner technologies for the future.The
ballot measure, if passed, would suspend AB 32 until the state
unemployment rate drops to 5.5% or lower for one year. California's
unemployment rate was 12.3% in July, and economic forecasts have the
rate remaining above 8% for the next five years, according to the
nonpartisan state Legislative Analyst's Office.Deciding what measures
to take that will determine the well-being of our planet based solely
on unemployment numbers is not something that the majority of people
agree with. In a July Field Poll, 36% of likely voters in California
said they would vote in favor of the measure, while 48% said they
would oppose Prop. 23.While opponents of Proposition 23 may not be
able to outspend oil refining companies for support, the general
consensus of California residents remains that they are ready to move
away from oil as the only source of energy and power, and recognize
the future of clean technologies to greatly reduce the negative impact
that human consumption has placed upon the Earth.