An initiative on the November statewide ballot that is funded by two Texas-based oil companies and would roll back California’s air pollution regulations drew condemnation today from San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom.
Proposition 23, the California Jobs Initiative, would suspend AB 32 — the state’s greenhouse gas emissions reduction law signed in 2006 by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger–until unemployment in California drops to 5.5 percent or less for a full year.
Newsom, who campaigned against the proposition in San Francisco in June as well, praised both AB 32 and his city’s record on the environment and support of “green” jobs.
“To me it’s not a partisan issue. It’s about the fate and future of our state,” Newsom said.
Schwarzenegger has also condemned the effort to suspend AB 32.
The No on 23 campaign today alleged that the two companies funding
the measure, Valero and Tesoro, “have accumulated hundreds of violations of state and local health and air pollution laws in the Bay Area” and other parts of the state.
The Yes on 23 campaign shot back that the two companies were being demonized, saying they provide thousands of jobs for Californians.
Newsom accused the companies of being disingenuous about meaning well for California.
“I think they care about their bottom line,” Newsom said.
Green technology, he added, “is the ticket to broad-based economic
prosperity in this state.”
