Environment

Study Says Prop. 23 Would Cause Calif. To Miss Emissions Goal

By Ed Joyce / Reporter

Published September 21, 2010 at 11:17 AM PDT

This story was published more than 14 years ago.

Analysis Shows 2020 Target For Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions Unlikely Under Prop. 23

A University of San Diego research center study shows passing Proposition 23 would keep California from reaching its target date to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Proposition 23 would suspend the California Global Warming Solutions Act until the state's unemployment dropped to 5.5 percent for four consecutive quarters.

The analysis from USD's Energy Policy Initiatives Center (EPIC) shows if the measure passes, the state would miss its 2020 goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels.

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The study said 14 strategies to reduce emissions account for about half of the reductions.

EPIC Director Scott Anders said they would be suspended under Proposition 23. He said if the measure is adopted, the greenhouse gas emissions law could be suspended for years.

"If 50 percent of your measures to get you to your target are suspended for 10 years, you're not going to get to your target, that's pretty clear," Anders said.

Anders said the analysis is based on available economic forecasts, historical unemployment data and the interpretation of Proposition 23.

He also said if the ballot measure passes it's likely there will be legal challenges about what strategies would be suspended and for how long.

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Ed Joyce was the environment reporter and afternoon news anchor for KPBS-FM. Before joining KPBS, he worked as an editor/columnist with Copley News Service in San Diego. Ed has an extensive background in newspaper, radio, web and TV journalism. After graduating with a B.A. in Communications from the University of Washington in Seattle, Ed began a career in broadcast journalism. His work has included stints in public broadcasting, commercial broadcasting and education -- working as an affiliate professor of communication and reporter at the University of Idaho and Washington State University in Pullman, Wash. During the past 20 years he has worked in radio, TV and print as a news reporter, anchor, writer, editor and producer. Along the way he has won numerous awards for general news reporting, newswriting, feature and issue reporting and breaking news reporting from The Associated Press, The Society of Professional Journalists, San Diego Press Club and other organizations. During the mid-1990s, while working for Oregon Public Broadcasting, he was a frequent contributor to National Public Radio, including a feature report on the memorial service for 14 U.S. Forest Service "hotshots" who died fighting a wildfire in Colorado (the crew was based in a central Oregon town). He’s also filed reports with Marketplace, KQED’s California Report and Climate Watch and with national and regional networks throughout the United States. At KPBS, Ed continues his contributions to National Public Radio and other national and regional news organizations. He has won awards from the Society of Professional Journalists and San Diego Press Club for his environmental reporting at KPBS-FM-TV and for producing and anchoring radio newscasts. In 2007 he was selected a National Press Foundation fellow for Understanding Violent Weather II program. The seminars were held at the National Weather Center in Norman, Okla. In 2008 he spoke at a UC San Diego conference on U.S. National Security as part of the school’s Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation. Ed led a discussion with the 18 foreign government officials and academics about the political debate over climate change. In 2010, Ed was elected to a three-year term on the board of the San Diego Press Club.

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