A Message from the Sierra Club for California Residents - Do This!

Your Action Needed NOW to Reduce Greenhouse Gases from Fuels in California



To Everyone Concerned About Global Warming:

One way in which the state’s global warming law, AB 32, calls for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is by requiring cars and trucks to use low carbon fuels. But the devil, as always, is in the details. The state Air Resources Board (CARB) is about to specify those details in a regulation. But industry lobbyists are trying to make those regulations weak.

The Sierra Club will be testifying at the April 23rd hearing as the CARB board listens to arguments about this regulation.

You can help fend off attempts to weaken it by taking a moment to send this message (suggested text below) to CARB:

Please personalize your message if at all possible.

Here is the suggested email text to send to mnichols@arb.ca.gov

Please send a copy of your email to us at globalwarmingaction@gmail.com



Mary Nichols, Chair

California Air Resources Board
1001 "I" Street
P.O. Box 2815
Sacramento , CA 95812





Dear CARB Chair Nichols,

Thank you for your support of the Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS).

I hope that the Board will pass a very strong LCFS, without any loopholes. Specifically:

· Please make sure to account accurately for GHG emissions from land use change when converting land to production of biofuels such as ethanol and biodiesel. Taking land out of use for growing food can lead to cutting down forests or tilling fallow land to make up for lost food crops. This would release large amounts of GHG.

· Please require use of ultra-low carbon fuels to produce electricity, for example from solar and wind power. That will reduce GHG emissions much more than modestly low-carbon fuels like ethanol. If we simply bring more fuels like ethanol into the state, consumers in other states may turn to oil. That in turn will not incentivize developers of electric vehicles, as well as of wind and solar power.

· Since some methane – a GHG even more powerful than CO2 – escapes from landfills even with the best methane capture technology, please do not allow landfill gas to be classified as a low-carbon fuel until all of its emissions can be accounted for.

Arizonans Make This Call

And pass it on- they still haven't voted as of 4/24 A.M.:
Happy Earth Day!



Please call your Arizona Senator’s Office today.

Say No to HB2017 and Yes to Cleaner Air!



“If the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency does not suspend the catalytic converter rule, it will cause Ford to shut down and would result in: 1) reduction of gross national product by $17 billion; 2) increased unemployment of 800,000; and 3) decreased tax receipts of $5 billion at all levels of government so that some local governments would become insolvent.”

— Lee Iacocca, Former Ford and Chrysler President Lee Iacocca in a 1973 speech



Today, the Legislature is celebrating Earth Day by attempting to take us a giant step backwards relative to limiting greenhouse gas emissions and other pollutants. HB2017 is on the Senate Committee of the Whole calendar. It has a strike everything amendment on Greenhouse emissions; regulations; fuel economy. HB2017 will undercut Clean Car and clean air programs and significantly restrict the Governor’s ability to act to limit greenhouse gas emissions as well as other pollutants.



This is an effort to have Arizona sit on its hands while the rest of the western states act to reduce emissions.

This measure is being promoted by who’s who list of big polluters, starting with the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers (represents all of the big auto makers including General Motors and Toyota) and dealers, the Western States Petroleum Association (represents the big oil companies including Chevron, ExxonMobil, and Shell Oil, among others), and the utilities (Salt River Project, Arizona Public Service Company, Tucson Electric Power, and Southwest Gas). The Homebuilders Association of Central Arizona and Peabody Coal are also supporting this effort to stall any action on limiting greenhouse gas emissions and other pollutants.



Tell them you want cleaner cars, cleaner air, and reduced greenhouse gas emissions. The auto industry and our economy survived the catalytic converter and we got cleaner air to boot – this combined with our auto emissions program has brought the Phoenix area into compliance with the federal health-based carbon monoxide standards. We still have a ways to go in cleaning up our air and our automobiles, however.



People in the Phoenix area have suffered from poor air quality for several decades. The Tucson area and other parts of the state have air quality challenges as well. Most of our pollution comes from cars and trucks and, on top of that, about 40 percent of Arizona’s greenhouse gas emissions also comes from vehicles. With our rapid growth and an increase in the vehicle miles travelled that outpaces that growth, our emissions could grow by as much as 200 percent from 1990 to 2020. We cannot afford that. Ask them to support moving forward with programs to clean up the air, limit greenhouse gas emissions, and to begin to address global climate change.



To find your senator’s contact information just click on http://www.azleg.gov/MemberRoster.asp?Body=S or you can call (602) 926-3559 or outside the Phoenix area 1-800-352-8404 and just ask to be connected to your senator’s office.



For more information, please contact Sandy Bahr at (602) 253-8633 or sandy.bahr@sierraclub.org.









Sandy Bahr

Conservation Outreach Director

Sierra Club - Grand Canyon Chapter

202 E. McDowell Rd, Suite 277

Phoenix, AZ 85004

Phone (602) 253-8633

Fax (602) 258-6533

sandy.bahr@sierraclub.org