While former Assemblymembers Hannah-Beth Jackson and Tony Strickland have both embraced environmentally-friendly rhetoric during this campaign season, only Jackson has the voting record to back it up. But you wouldn't know it based on Strickland's most recent ad:

"Democrats, Republicans, and independents agree, Tony Strickland's fight for renewable energy is changing minds. ... Tony Strickland, independent thinker, renewable energy, changing California's economy."

If Strickland demonstrates an independence streak, it's certainly not away from the anti-environmental policies that have come to define legislative Republicans in recent years. Indeed, the California League of Conservation Voters' scorecards couldn't be more clear, with Jackson averaging a lifetime 98.8 percent score and Strickland averaging threadbare 1.7 percent score. This 97.1 point gap dividing the candidates is noticeably steeper than the divide that exists between Senate Environment and Public Works Chair Barbara Boxer and her immediate predecessor Senator Jim "Global Warming is the Greatest Hoax Ever Perpetrated on the American People" Inhofe, who scored lifetime 88 percent and 4 percent scores respectively.

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Joe Matthews, of Blockbuster Democracy fame, penned a guest piece for the Scientific American this week, explaining why prospects are grim for propositions 7 and 10, despite the broad interest in our state to more proactively pursue renewable energy solutions. Sure, the budget crisis makes voters wary of costly initiatives, but as Matthews notes, "gas prices are among the nation's highest" in California. Nevertheless, the propositions failed to follow Matthews' four rules (I'm sure there's a Fight Club joke in here somewhere):

1) ""Big Money" can't pass a measure, but Big Money can defeat a measure"

This one is simple. Neither initiative has created a broad enough coalition to fight the oodles of money that will come from the state's big utilities. If Prop 87 couldn't pass, with near unanimous environmentalist support, it's hard to see how measures that divide the environmental community will survive the process.

2) "Bonds are good politics, except when times are bad."

And lord knows times are bad. How large will next year's operational deficit be in the state? I can't tell you, and no one else can either.

3) Successful ballot initiatives generally involve issues that lawmakers have failed to tackle.

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Hillary Clinton will be there. John Edwards will be there. Even Dennis Kucinich will be there. But Sen. Barack Obama appears to be MIA this weekend for an historic debate on global warming in Los Angeles sponsored by the California League of Conservation Voters.

The first Presidential Forum on Global Warming and America's Energy Future "will be a critical opportunity to hear from the candidates on their positions and to further elevate our issues in the presidential election," according to the CLCV's Susan Smart. More than a thousand people will fill the theater to watch the event. (You can watch the live webcast here.)

The event, which is sponsored by Grist and Living on Earth, will start at 2:15 pm PST with a welcome address from Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. Each of the candidates will then get 30 minutes on stage to talk about their vision for solving our energy problems and answer questions on their policies.

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State Senator Tom McClintock has long enjoyed a reputation in Capitol circles for being a straight-shooting, principled conservative. You may not believe what he believes, but you usually get a sense that he knows what he's talking about.
 
That's why it's stunning that McClintock, in a speech last week to the Western Conservative Politcal Action Conference, called global warming a "farce." In a rant against environmentalists, he blasted the state's new greenhouse emissions law, co-authored by Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez, saying it would hurt industry and -- get this -- even cause starvation in the world.
 
Even the most neanderthal true believers in the Republican Party have begun to shed this line of thinking. Economic conservatives are acknowleding global warming and recommending market-based solutions. Moderate Republicans, like Sen. John McCain, are signing on to legislation on Capitol Hill to promote "cap and trade" programs. Even religious conservatives have taken up the cause of global warming. 

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Image courtesy Western Alliance.

Senate Republicans are pounding their chests about the so-called concession they won in the California Environmental Quality Act after 52 days of obstruction. But if you ask environmental insiders and Democratic leaders what they got, they agree on one thing: the GOP was snookered. In fact, greenhouse gas protections may have even been strengthened by the Republican's move!

Here are the details:

1. Question:

The Republicans demanded changes in law to stop Jerry Brown and others from filing lawsuits against San Bernardino County development plans, oil refinery upgrades, and other projects that produce greenhouse gases (GHG’s). Does this language do that?

Answer:

The short answer is no. If anything, the language strengthens environmental protections for climate change impacts.

The language does two things:

a. First, it mandates new CEQA guidelines by 2010 that spell out what parties must do to "mitigate" (or address) the global warming impacts of their projects, something not required under current law;

b. And second, it states that inadequate analyses of greenhouse gas emissions otherwise regulated by the ARB under AB 32 for transportation projects funded under Proposition 1-B and flood control projects under proposition 1-E are not a basis for bringing lawsuits under CEQA.

Since the bill’s applicability is limited only to 1-B funded transportation projects and 1-E flood control projects, nothing in the bill affects the Attorney General’s current litigation related to San Bernardino County or any other similar CEQA enforcement actions he may bring in the future.

[NOTE: The AG has issued a settlement of the San Bernardino CEQA litigation so that entire issue is moot.]

2. Question:

The Republicans also said they wanted to stop all lawsuits against bond projects until 2012 when the AB 32 greenhouse gas regulations are adopted by the ARB. Does this language do that?

Again, the short answer is no.

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Photo courtesy Blogzilla.

So long as Senate Republicans continue to hold out for non-budget related smoking tent deals, the state's ability to protect the environment this budget season is in jeopardy. Most notably, if the McClintock wing of the Republican Party has it's way, Attorney General Jerry Brown's ability to encourage local municipalities to become compliant with the state's landmark global warming bill, AB 32, will be crippled. This San Jose Merc editorial explains what's at stake.

Not surprisingly, one of the state's leading environmental groups wants the Assembly budget to remain unaltered. In a statement released today, the Sierra Club California said:

"Republicans in the California Senate continue their outrageous demand for major rollbacks to California’s bedrock environmental law as the price of their support for the state budget. Their demand to weaken the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) -- behind closed doors -- as a condition of approving the state’s budget is an unprecedented level of extortion. The Republicans want to prevent CEQA from being used to address increases in greenhouse gas emissions and the resulting impacts on global warming.

It appears that this demand is the main obstacle to completing the budget.

These Republican Senators are dramatically out-of-step with Californians.

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The temporary derailment of Assemblymember Lloyd Levine's spaying and neutering bill isn't the only population control story in the news today. July 11 happens to be World Population Day, and the Sierra Club wants YOU to stop breeding like cats and dogs:

"If we are to tackle global challenges like global warming, poverty, and population growth, the United States must rise to the challenge and show leadership by investing in sustainable development solutions -- solutions that prioritize global health initiatives, including family planning. Slowing population growth and addressing the over consumption and inequitable distribution of natural resources, is key to long-term environmental protection."

This is a message worth pushing as we inch closer to a new presidential election. As you may recall, President George Bush's first official action as president was to "prohibit the allocation of U.S. funds to groups who support abortion, either by performing the procedure, or offering abortion counseling or lobbying governments abroad," a policy that is almost certain to be lifted under a Democratic president. 
 
If you haven't purchased your World Population Day greeting card yet, don't bother. Instead, the Sierra Club would love it if you sent "eco-friendly" Home Depot a letter, telling them that you won't buy their products until they stop advertising on the Fox News Channel, a network committed to distorting the scientific non-debate on human-induced global warming. Don't believe me? Sit back, enjoy some organically grown sustainable popcorn, and see for yourself.

The daily papers have had a chance to weigh in on yesterday's hearing on Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's improper political interference at the California Air Resources Board, and let's just say Team Arnold's decision to run away from the hearing was probably a mistake. The headlines say it all:

• Sacramento Bee: Lawmakers miffed by answers on air board upheaval
• Los Angeles Times: Democrats accuse governor of bullying air panel
• San Francisco Chronicle: Ex-official of air board says pressure was intense; Governor's office accused of 'interference' on emissions
• San Diego Union Tribune: Governor accused of pressuring air board
• Daily Breeze: Democrats demanding answers on departures
• AP: Former Air Board officials say Schwarzenegger interfered

And how's this for an AP lead: "Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger portrays himself as a global environmental leader, but that image was tarnished Friday as two former state air pollution officials testified about an administration they said is working to weaken global warming initiatives." Ouch!

Now Governor Schwarzenegger, I know you have one of the best spin teams money can buy, but they may have blew it this time. This story has legs, and you just gave it wings. Hiding your head in the sand and refusing to allow your deputies to respond to the former CARB officials' rather damning allegations gives the impression that you are engaged in a cover-up. So let me give you some free advise: if Susan Kennedy and Dan Dunmoyer have nothing to hide, then the headlines you so desire will reveal it once they testify. But if Dr. Robert Sawyer and Catherine Witherspoon's allegations are true -- if your administration did cravenly seek to undermine CARB's science-based independence while publicly magazine-glossing your green credentials -- then perhaps your spin team is wise to only give the suspicion of impropriety before removing all doubt.

The Assembly Natural Resources Committee held a hearing today on the Schwarzenegger Administration's attempt to purge the well-respected California Air Resources Board of members that favor strict controls on greenhouse emissions. And the Schwarzenegger Administration's response? Stonewall.
 
In a slap in the face to the legislature, the Administration sent former B-league staffer Dan Skopec to testify, along with an unknown bureaucrat from CalEPA. Skopec, who, in a former life, carried the water of Rep. Doug Ose (the former Sacramento area Congressman who defended the energy generators), was a disaster. He called the testimony of CARB officials "fiction," and then refused to answer committee questions about the Governor's staff review of his testimony. He also provoked the committee by calling the hearing political theater -- not a wise move for someone who later said he may soon be a lobbyist before the legislature.
 
Skopec's comments drew scorn from Assemblymember Jared Huffman of Marin County, who compared the Schwarzenegger Administration's micromanagement of the Air Board to Karl Rove in the White House. LA Assemblymember Mike Feuer also lit into Skopec for failing to fully answer questions. Other members of the panel -- including Santa Barbara Assemblymember Pedro Nava, Sacramento's Dave Jones, and Mark DeSaulnier of Contra Costa County -- also asked pointed questions and drew incomplete answers from the Administration officials.

Defenders of the Wildlife Action Fund just lunched a radio campaign against five "anti-environmental congressmen who have their 'heads in the sand' on global warming." The five targets are all Republicans and include California Representatives Doolittle and Calvert. The ads will air at least until the end of the week, according to the Action Fund's press release. The group is best known for their ads that targeted now former California Congressman Pombo early in the 2006 cycle.
 
The radio spots, tailored for each district, can be found here. The first 30 seconds of the Calvert ad notes that he was named among the 20 most corrupt Members of Congress and hits on the myriad of problems that nearly kept him from a coveted seat on the Appropriations committee -- earmark abuse and being caught with a prostitute, among others. The spot also notes the amount of money he has taken from "Big Oil."
 
The Doolittle spot also devotes the first 30 seconds to Doolittle's ethics problems, including his ties to Jack Abramoff.
 
The Action Fund promises that this is just their opening salvo. If so, their follow-up should be interesting.