BILL NUMBER: AB 177INTRODUCED BILL TEXT INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Price FEBRUARY 2, 2009 An act relating to energy. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 177, as introduced, Price. Energy: Green Economy Inclusion Act of 2009. The California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 requires the State Air Resources Board to adopt regulations to require the reporting and verification of emissions of greenhouse gases and to monitor and enforce compliance with the reporting and verification program, and requires the state board to adopt a statewide greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions limit equivalent to the statewide GHG emissions levels in 1990 to be achieved by 2020. The act requires the state board to adopt rules and regulations in an open public process to achieve the maximum technologically feasible and cost-effective GHG emission reductions. This bill would enact the Green Economy Inclusion Act of 2009 and would state the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation to ensure greater equity and inclusion of all Californians in the future of developing and implementing climate change, transportation, land use, and economic stimulus policies to reduce GHG emissions in California. Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no. State-mandated local program: no. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. This act shall be known as the Green Economy Inclusion Act of 2009. SEC. 2. The Legislature finds and declares all of the following: (a) California communities most impacted by pollution, poor health, and poverty lack the capacity to fully comprehend and participate in the complex process of implementing the California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006. (b) There are a number of equity groups who are concerned that the public health and economic benefits of implementing the act, particularly as those benefits relate to low-income and urban populations of color, have not been adequately presented, analyzed, or incorporated into the implementation framework. Those concerns include, but are not limited to, the costs for consumers and small businesses, and inclusive standards for carbon offset sales. (c) It is critical that adequate opportunity exists for all Californians to help ensure equitable emission reductions, cap-and-trade or carbon offset sales program and regulations development, as well as maximum social and technological innovation in the future. (d) Authoritative data on California's energy, water, infrastructure, small business, home ownership, vocational training, and science and engineering workforce deficits attribute the deficits to a chronic lack of capital, regulatory barriers and costs, and fragmented approaches to policy implementation and action-oriented responses. (e) The implementation of the California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 presents a tremendous opportunity to stimulate California' s low-income urban area economies, especially because the state currently lacks an overall economic development and job creation strategy. SEC. 3. It is the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation to ensure greater equity and inclusion of all Californians in the future of developing and implementing climate change, transportation, land use, and economic stimulus policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in California.