In This Issue:

• BOO! CALIFORNIA GREENHOUSE GAS LAW COMING TO YOU!

• AB 32 SCOPING PLAN RELEASED

• INDUSTRY RELEASES AB 32 ECONOMIC ANALYSIS RESPONSE

• SIERRA CLUB AND LEAGUE OF CONSERVATION VOTERS SCORECARDS

• L.A. GREEN BUILDING CODE STARTS NOVEMBER 1

• CORPORATE WATER FOOTPRINTING CONFERENCE

BOO! CALIFORNIA GREENHOUSE GAS LAW COMING TO YOU!

In a bit of proof that it is just a matter of time before policies that begin in California will spread to the rest of the nation, political insiders believe that if Barack Obama is elected President, California Air Resources Board Chair, Mary Nichols may be tapped to run the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Click here to read the full story at Capitol Weekly. See below to help cheer you up.
 

AB 32 SCOPING PLAN RELEASED

***The following document is going to change the way you live and do business in California. You should know what AB 32 is and be active in shaping its impacts.***

Click here to read the AB 32 Scoping Plan (October release) from the California Air Resources Board. As an industry, we provided 12 pages worth of comments on the draft scoping plan/appendices/economic analysis. Energy efficiency in existing buildings and “green buildings” are a large part of the strategy contained herein. We will prepare further comments for this draft, so please circulate to interested people and ask for thoughts/analysis.
 

INDUSTRY RELEASES AB 32 ECONOMIC ANALYSIS RESPONSE

Calling for a more realistic economic assessment of the state's climate plan, the AB 32 Implementation Group has provided testimony and written analysis to help the California Air Resources Board members better understand the impacts of proposed regulations on business.

The analysis of the AB 32 Scoping Plan analyzes the plan that the group believes led to the overly optimistic conclusion by CARB staff. The analysis also calls on the agency to conduct a more comprehensive economic analysis that determines the cost of the state's climate change plan on California companies and consumers before it is implemented.

CBPA is a member of the AB 32 Implementation Group Steering Committee.

To read the AB 32 Implementation Group letter to Mary Nichols click here.

To read the comments on the economic analysis click here.
 

SIERRA CLUB AND LEAGUE OF CONSERVATION VOTERS SCORECARDS

The Sierra Club of California and the League of Conservation Voters have each released 2008 legislative scorecards ranking state lawmakers on their propensity to support the environmentalist legislative agenda.

The Sierra Club ranked 15 State Senators and 27 Assembly Members (all Democrats) with a perfect 100 percent. The California League of Conservation Voters gave perfect scores to 9 State Senators and 19 Assembly Members (again, all Democrats).

See the scorecards by clicking here: CLCV Scorecard; Sierra Club Scorecard.
 

L.A. GREEN BUILDING CODE STARTS NOVEMBER 1

Los Angeles will hold a public event on November 1, 2008 to kick off the city's new green building code. Beginning November 1st, projects of 50,000 square feet or more and residential projects of seven stories or more must comply with the intent of the US Green Building Council's LEED Certified Level. Developers can voluntarily comply with LEED Silver level, which will give them priority processing, a faster plan check and expedited permitting in various departments. Further, DWP is also offering financial incentives. Click here to read the green building ordinance.
 

CORPORATE WATER FOOTPRINTING CONFERENCE

How can water management help companies and your properties save energy and costs? How does water reduction drive sustainability? These are two of the central questions being answered at the Corporate Water Footprinting event which is taking place December 2-3 at the Hyatt Regency in San Francisco.

Confirmed speakers include sustainability experts from Pepsi, Coke, ConAgra Foods, Nestle Waters, IBM, Cisco, Adobe, Intel, GE, Dean Foods, Steelcase, JP Morgan and more. Water management experts from The Global Water Challenge, Business for Social Responsibility, The Pacific Institute, and the World Resources Institute are also speaking.

CBPA is supporting this event which entitles any member a discount of 20% to attend this event. Simply type “csrw20” into the discount code box when booking online or quote “csrw20” when booking by phone or fax. For more information, click here to visit the website.