Press Release
For immediate release
July 1, 2011
Contact:
Bill Gallegos, CBE (323) 573-5310
Caroline Farrell, CRPE (661) 586-2621
Evelyn Rangel-Medina, CrossRoots (702) 534-9115
Joaquín Quetzal Sánchez, CrossRoots (917) 575-3154
CALIFORNIA CAP-AND-TRADE IS NOT READY – ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE COMMUNITIES LIFT EQUITABLE ALTERNATIVES
HUNTINGTON PARK, CA—A coalition of Environmental Justice groups are committed to continue lifting California forward by stopping Cap-and-Trade and implementing AB 32 equitably. On June 24, 2011 the Appellate Court issued a stay order allowing the California Air Resources Board to move ahead in the planning of a Cap-and-Trade program, jeopardizing AB 32, California's landmark Global Warming Solutions Act.
On June 29, 2011, ARB Chair Mary Nichols announced Cap-and-Trade is not ready and will postpone enforcement until 2013.
“We know that Cap-and-Trade failed in Europe and we don’t have the luxury to test a failed idea. There are a wealth of policy options available at our fingertips that will achieve the goals of AB 32 and they do not include the creation of a bogus carbon market,” said Bill Gallegos, Executive Director for CBE. "Our communities have a better way, like the GREEN ZONES initiative which targets pollution and emission reductions at the emitting source. We'd like to see Governor Brown step in and direct the ARB to get rid of Cap-and-Trade."
Communities for a Better Environment (CBE) and Center on Race, Poverty & the Environment (CRPE) have long been proactive players in the successful implementation of AB 32. Together they are leading a statewide coalition to stop Cap-and-Trade and prevent the ARB from destroying California’s leadership in reducing GHG and invigorating an ecological economy.
“Our statewide campaign will not allow the ARB to continue with business as usual. The announcement of this delay reinforces Cap-and-Trade is not the way. We are confident in our communities’ ability to rise and steer Governor Brown to implement AB 32 equitably and efficiently,” said Alicia Rivera, Community Organizer at CBE in oil-refinery burdened Wilmington, CA.
The Appellate Court’s decision along with Mary Nichols' announcement has only increased the coalition's conviction that Californians and environmental justice communities most vulnerable to climate change must organize for the health and well-being of our neighborhoods and the successful, just implementation of AB 32.