California delays fee tied to AB32 climate change law

Russ Steele

Here is a little story from page 8B in the Sac Bee today that warms my heart:

The state, facing a ballot initiative to roll back its landmark climate
change law, has pushed back a $63 million fee to pay for the legislation
until after the November elections.

The California Air Resources Board was supposed to begin collecting fees
from oil companies, utilities and other energy producers last year to pay
for the greenhouse gas reduction law.

But a lawsuit by business organizations and taxpayer advocates – combined
with the ongoing state budget crisis – has pushed back the implementation
date to November.

So far CARB has spent $80 million dollars since 2007 in administering AB32, borrowing the money from other state programs.  Once implemented, these fee would be charged to the oil companies power companies and other energy producers, which would be passed on to consumers.

You, the consumer were going to pay for implementing AB32.  Vote YES on PROP 23 and all those fees will be unnecessary! 

Read the whole Sac Bee article here. H/T to a regular reader for alerting me to this article.