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Four years ago, California passed a landmark bipartisan environmental bill, the Global Warming Solutions Act. Currently, Texas-based oil giants Valero Energy Corp and Tesoro Corp are spending millions of dollars campaigning to suspend this bill.
The Global Warming Solutions Act, which requires the states greenhouse emissions to be reduced by 25% by 2020 is being challenged by Big Oil’s Proposition 23. According to the bill, California would have to “suspend State laws requiring reduced greenhouse gas emissions that cause global warming, until California’s unemployment rate drops to 5.5 percent or less for four consecutive quarters.” (this has never happened).
If Prop 23 were to pass, Californians would see their state fall back into the fast lane toward polluted air and expensive oil and electricity. The passing of this bill would put a halt the growing green industry in California, which has already seen a 5% job increase. With California’s seemingly positive route toward a cleaner state, let’s hope Prop 23 fails.
Other states have their challenges as well; here’s a list of government and state programs that anyone can get involved in to help cut our addiction to oil.