The Schwarzenegger administration was scheduled last Friday to release its long-awaited "scoping plan" to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, as required by a 2006 state law to fight global warming.
But a week has come and gone and still no final scoping plan. What gives?
Stanley Young, a spokesman for the California Air Resources Board, told me earlier this week that officials were just "crossing t's and dotting i's" in pulling together the voluminous report.
That may be so, but the collapse of the financial markets is surely adding to the delay.
For one, the governor's staff has been busy trying to deal with the state's cash-flow crunch. Thus, they probably haven't had time to vet a plan that is sure to be controversial.
Beyond that, one has to wonder if the governor is reluctant to release a plan that will lay out new fees, regulations and market mechanisms to achieve a 28 percent reduction in greenhouse gases by 2020. All will surely increase the cost of doing business in California.
The scoping plan is big -- sure -- but it may have too large a scope for Schwarzenegger to feel comfortable in these hard economic times.
About Comments
Reader comments on Sacbee.com are the opinions of the writer, not The Sacramento Bee. If you see an objectionable comment, click the "report abuse" button below it. We will delete comments containing inappropriate links, obscenities, hate speech, and personal attacks. Flagrant or repeat violators will be banned. See more about comments here.