Two Los Angeles area business leaders wrote an open letter to Governor Schwarzenegger to urge him to sign SB 827, emergency legislation to re-establish the emissions credit bank at the South Coast Air Quality Management District. Governor Schwarzenegger has until October 11 to sign the bill.
Links to previous articles on SB 827 (formerly SB 696) follow the letter:
October 1, 2009
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
State Capitol
Sacramento, CA
RE: An open letter to Governor Schwarzenegger regarding SB 827
Dear Governor:
As businesses continue to struggle to keep their doors open and California unemployment reaches over 12 percent, business and labor have come together to ask for your signature on SB 827 (formerly SB 696) –– the single-largest job creation bill in Sacramento. We are urgently asking for your signature and we are not alone. We are part of a massive coalition that includes public safety, public works, local governments, environmentalists and many others who recognize importance this bill will play to Southern California’s economy.
Sixty-five thousand jobs can be created and saved by your signature on SB 827. Literally, a stroke of your pen will put small family firms back in business, out-of-work union members back on the job, improve air quality and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
When a lawsuit forced the closure of the emissions credit bank at the South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) earlier this year it ended a program providing free air permits to essential public services such as police and fire stations, hospitals, schools, water districts, fire districts and others as well as small businesses.
Immediately, more than 1,000 projects were denied access to air permits. More than 2,000 more were threatened. Often these permits involved projects installing new, more efficient and much cleaner equipment in place of older, polluting machines. The permits were based on unclaimed emissions credits earned within the district. The agencies and small businesses involved couldn’t earn the credits required and couldn’t afford to buy the air permits on the open market, which would cost about $4 billion. As a result, work stopped. Layoffs have mounted.
Without the projects, neither the air quality goals of the State Implementation Plan (SIP) nor the greenhouse gas emission reductions planned for in the AB 32 Scoping Plan can be advanced.
We know you are aware of the very real struggle some people are facing in this economy. But we have a front row seat. About a third of our union members in the construction trades in Southern California cannot find work. Every day more businesses fight to stay open in the face of declining sales and financial difficulty. These are real Californians battling the economic odds every day.
SB 827 is critically needed to get Southern California’s economy moving again. It re-establishes the SCAQMD’s credit bank and allows access to its priority reserve to continue the district’s strict permitting program that protects public health while allowing essential services and job-creating facilities to be built. Please do not delay any longer in signing this bill.
On behalf of the businesses and union members in the construction trades in Southern California, we urge you to sign SB 827 and unleash $5 billion in economic activity that will create and save 65,000 needed jobs in our state.
Thank you.
Sincerely,
Richard Slawson Gary L. Toebben
Executive Secretary President & CEO
Los Angeles/Orange Counties Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce
Building and Construction Trades Council
Also read:
Business leaders urging governor to sign SB 827
Will blocked emissions credits lead to job loss?
Fighting for jobs or clean air in Southern California?
Comments