A report commissioned by the California Manufacturers and Technology Association suggests that the state's sweeping law to reduce greenhouse gas emissions - known as AB32 - will cost billions and drive jobs from the state.
Association president Jack Stewart said the law will make energy costs exorbitant - and scare off new industrial investment.
"Because of high costs because of things like the uncertainty that AB32 throws on the economy - if the company's going to invest here - they're looking out ten to fifteen years and when they can't see what the costs are going to be, they're going to go to a state with more stable economic future," commented Stewart.
The report points to high costs stemming from programs like the "cap and trade" where businesses will be charged for their emissions.
It estimates AB32 will cost the state a quarter of a million jobs over the next eight years. That's in contrast to a UC Berkeley report that finds the law will directly generate more than fifty-thousand green jobs by 2020.
