Comment Log Display

Ms. Mary Nichols
Chair, California Air Resources Board
1001 I Street
Sacramento, CA 95812


Dear Ms. Nichols:

Our organization, the Milpitas Chamber of Commerce supports a
balanced, cost-effective plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions,
but we are very concerned about the cost of the Board’s proposed AB
32 scoping plan.

Currently, California is suffering an economic downturn with high
mortgage foreclosures, rising business costs and thousands of lost
jobs. In addition, the Legislature and the Governor are
contemplating additional tax measures that will raise fuel costs
and further burden our economy.  Our industry simply cannot afford
additional costs for the companies that do business here and the
families that live here.  

We are not comforted by your staff’s rosy conclusion that the AB
32 scoping plan – the most ambitious regulatory plan ever proposed
-- won’t cost a penny to implement.  We have been briefed about the
increased energy and fuel costs that the proposed AB 32 scoping
plan will impose. In particular we are concerned about the higher
taxes and fees, higher electricity and natural gas costs, higher
fuel costs, higher building and home costs, and higher vehicle
costs the AB 32 plan will impose. Make no mistake, these increased
costs will make a very bad situation much worse for our industry.

We believe it is vitally important that the Board understand and
acknowledge the true costs of the Scoping Plan. For this reason, we
are requesting a more accurate assessment of the potential costs of
the Scoping Plan to support the Board’s decision-making now and
into the future 

In addition, we urge your agency to use lower cost strategies to
pursue greenhouse gas emission reductions. Specifically, CARB
should place higher priority on evaluating the relative cost of
alternative approaches to achieving AB 32 emission reduction
targets. In particular, research should focus on quantifying how
more reliance on cap-and-trade and offset programs could reduce the
costs of implementing AB 32.

If you have any questions or need further information, please feel
free to contact us.


Sincerely,

Frank J. De Smidt
Chairman: Government Affairs Committee
Milpitas Chamber of Commerce
828 N. Hillview Dr.
Milpitas CA 95035
408-262-2613
408-262-2823 fax
government@milpitaschamber.com