Atty. Gen. Brown Receives Coalition For Clean Air Environmental Award

Friday, June 20, 2008
Contact: (916) 210-6000, agpressoffice@doj.ca.gov

Today at 1:00 p.m., California Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. will accept an award in Los Angeles from the Coalition for Clean Air for “Leadership in Environmental Advocacy” and significant contributions to reducing California’s air pollution.

The Coalition for Clean Air is a statewide organization advocating for clean air in California. Since 1971, the coalition has worked to restore California’s air quality through outreach and education. The coalition spearheaded California’s original smog check program, won the first statewide ban on a toxic dry cleaning chemical and helped pass landmark global warming legislation in California.

Brown has a strong record as a pioneer on environmental issues. As governor, Brown expanded the use of wind, solar and geothermal power. And as Mayor of Oakland, Brown fought for sustainability, green construction and a commitment to renewable energy. As attorney general, Brown has fought vigorously to protect California’s air and natural resources from environmental degradation.

Last year, Brown reached a landmark settlement with San Bernardino County which established a greenhouse gas reduction plan that identifies sources of emissions and sets reduction targets. Brown also reached an agreement with ConocoPhillips which offsets greenhouse gases attributable to an oil refinery expansion in Contra Costa County. The Port of Los Angeles also reached an agreement with the attorney general which identifies and reduces greenhouse gas emissions generated from port operations. In May, Brown announced that the San Diego Airport is taking “a key leadership role” in the fight against global warming by agreeing to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from its major airport expansion.

Brown has also recently hosted climate change workshops in Sacramento, Los Angeles, Oakland, Monterey, and Visalia, challenging hundreds of local officials to take the lead in the fight against global warming. Brown has stressed the urgent need to combat climate disruption by setting greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets. During Brown’s climate workshops, local government has learned how to model greenhouse gas emissions and to design emissions inventories that can improve local planning decisions.

The Global Warming Solutions Act, AB 32, requires California to cut greenhouse gas emission to 1990 levels by 2020, but the rules and market mechanisms will not take effect until 2012. Meanwhile, local government will make hundreds, if not thousands, of planning decisions that will have decades-long implications.

To date, Attorney General Brown has submitted nearly thirty comment letters, under the California Environmental Quality Act, on local projects that have the potential to emit large quantities of greenhouse gas emissions. The Act, signed into law by Governor Reagan in 1970, requires state and local agencies to evaluate significant environmental impacts of proposed projects and adopt all feasible measures to mitigate those impacts.

Attorney General Brown frequently updates the California Department of Justice Website to provide information on how to join the fight against global warming: http://ag.ca.gov/globalwarming/ceqa.php

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