New Report Shows California's Historic Global Warming Solutions Act Will Reduce Pollution While Creating Jobs and Growth

SAN JOSE, (June 1, 2007) – Just five months after California’s Global Warming Solutions Act became law, the state is off to a running start in devising the world’s most ambitious global warming pollution reduction plan and firmly placing the state at the epicenter of the fast-growing clean technology market, according to a new report released today by business and conservation groups.

 

“This is the first report that shows how the pieces of the puzzle fit together in California’s first-in-the-nation law to limit global warming pollution,” said Eric Wanless, a sustainable energy expert with the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and coauthor of the report. “The report can help California business leaders understand how they can take advantage of the growing market opportunities for pollution-cutting technologies.”

 

The Silicon Valley Leadership Group, NRDC, and Environmental Entrepreneurs (E2) released the report today at the Energy Summit 2007 conference, a gathering of entrepreneurs, business leaders and energy experts in the heart of Silicon Valley.

 

“California is on the way to becoming the clean tech capital of the world,” said Carl Guardino, CEO of the Leadership Group. “Just as we led the hi-tech and bio-tech sectors, we are going to harness our vision and innovation to create the new clean energy economy, while solving the world’s most pressing environmental challenge.”

 

In fact, California is already in a strong position through a combination of regulatory and market-based policies and through business efforts that are proving to be a laboratory for clean technology development. The report outlines how the state’s plan to implement the Global Warming Solutions Act (AB 32, Núñez-Pavley) is taking shape already, and offers case studies of companies developing clean technologies and adopting clean energy strategies on the ground.

 

“It’s no surprise that California has become a magnet for venture capital investment in the clean technology sector,” said Bob Epstein, E2 co-founder. “The state’s concrete policy to cut global warming pollution has created the clear signal that investors and entrepreneurs have been waiting for.”

 

The joint report, “A Golden Opportunity: California’s Solutions for Global Warming,” shows how specific strategies will enable the state to reduce carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping pollution to 1990 levels by 2020, a nearly 30 percent reduction compared to business as usual. The specific strategies include cleaner cars and trucks, low-carbon fuels, smart growth, energy efficiency, renewable energy and cleaner power plants.

 

It also explains how market-based mechanisms designed to reward smart companies for quick action can reduce pollution, cut overall costs and complement the state’s regulatory efforts.

 

Case studies of seven companies include Advanced Micro Devices, Better Energy Systems, Cisco, Johnson & Johnson, Miasolé, New Resource Bank, and Pacific Gas and Electric – that are leading the way to the state’s clean technology future by reducing emissions at their facilities, delivering pollution cutting products and services to the marketplace, and demonstrating corporate leadership on global warming.

 

“As the world’s 11th largest emitter of global warming pollution, the reductions we achieve in California will make a difference,” said Devra Wang, a report co-author and director of NRDC’s California Energy Program. “But more importantly, the state’s efforts can serve as a model for the rest of the nation, as California has shown time and time again for more than 40 years.”

 

The Energy Summit 2007 was hosted today by SunPower at Cypress Semiconductor in San Jose, Calif., with keynote speaker former Secretary of State George P. Shultz. More information about the event is available at www.svlg.net. The report, “A Golden Opportunity: California’s Solutions for Global Warming," is available at www.nrdc.org/globalWarming/ca/ca.asp.