SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) – California’s signature initiative to fight global warming will get another decade of life after lawmakers from both parties joined Gov. Jerry Brown in extending the law credited with reducing the state’s carbon footprint.
Monday night’s votes to renew California’s cap-and-trade program bolster the Democratic governor’s quest to portray the state as a leader in the fight against climate change. At a bipartisan celebratory press conference following the vote, members from both parties noted the contrast with Washington, where Republicans have struggled to pass legislation and have taken a skeptical view of regulations to combat greenhouse gases.
“We didn’t come here to Sacramento to just be Republicans and to hate on Democrats,” Assembly Republican Leader Chad Mayes said. “We came here to Sacramento to make people’s lives better.”
The three-bill package now heads to Brown’s desk.
Brown has sought to offer the state’s cap-and-trade program as a model that can be reproduced in other states and even nations to reduce carbon emissions and combat rising temperatures.