BILL WOULD SET LIMITS ON GASES.Byline: KERRY CAVANAUGH Staff Writer Agoura Hills Assemblywoman as·sem·bly·wom·an n. A woman who is a member of a legislative assembly. Noun 1. assemblywoman - a woman assemblyman representative - a person who represents others Fran Pavley Fran Pavley is a Democratic politician and previously served as a California Assemblywoman and as the first mayor of the Southern California community of Agoura Hills. She served as a Mayor and Councilmember for four terms. unveiled a bill Monday that would set the nation's first limits on the greenhouse gases greenhouse gas n. Any of the atmospheric gases that contribute to the greenhouse effect. greenhouse gas that cause global warming global warming, the gradual increase of the temperature of the earth's lower atmosphere as a result of the increase in greenhouse gases since the Industrial Revolution. . The landmark legislation came the same day Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's Climate Action Team released its recommendations on ways to slow the production of the heat-trapping gases that trigger global warming. Together, the initiatives make California the most aggressive state on climate-change rules, and pressure on the federal government to act on strategies to slow global warming. ``Californians want our government to create tough, enforceable standards on global warming that are meaningful,'' said Pavley, whose 2002 bill established the world's most stringent limits on greenhouse gases from automobiles. ``As California leads and innovates, we believe that Congress and other states will also implement economy-wide clean energy standards.'' Heat-trapping greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide carbon dioxide, chemical compound, CO2, a colorless, odorless, tasteless gas that is about one and one-half times as dense as air under ordinary conditions of temperature and pressure. and methane methane (mĕth`ān), CH4, colorless, odorless, gaseous saturated hydrocarbon; the simplest alkane. It is less dense than air, melts at −184°C;, and boils at −161.4°C;. , are blamed for a slow increase in global temperatures. Projections suggest that California's average annual temperature could increase 3 to 10 degrees by the end of the century. Introduced in Sacramento with co-sponsor Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez, Pavley's Assembly Bill 32 aims to cut by 2020 some 145 million tons of pollution from major sources of heat-trapping greenhouse gases, such as from power plants, oil and gas refiners and landfills. That would reduce the state's emissions to 1990 levels, with the goal of slowing the gradual increase in climate temperatures, which scientists say will shrink the Sierra snowpack snow·pack n. An area of naturally formed, packed snow that usually melts during the warmer months. snowpack 1. , endanger en·dan·ger tr.v. en·dan·gered, en·dan·ger·ing, en·dan·gers 1. To expose to harm or danger; imperil. 2. To threaten with extinction. the state's water supply and increase the risk of heat waves and wildfires. The bill would require the California Environmental Protection Agency The California Environmental Protection Agency (Cal/EPA) was created in 1991 by Governor Pete Wilson, through an executive order.[1] The agency combined six board, departments, and offices into one cabinet-level office:[2] ``The history of voluntary programs is that they don't work. The Bush administration approach to greenhouse gases is voluntary and it's not working,'' said Karen Douglas, director of the California Climate Initiative at Environmental Defense. Also, she said, mandatory programs create a market for the low-pollution vehicle, power sources and technology that will ultimately ease climate change. California is the 12th-largest source of climate change gases in the world, and in June Schwarzenegger signed an executive order setting climate change emission reduction targets. In response, the governor's Climate Action Team developed a plan with more than 50 strategies to cut greenhouse gas emissions, including planting more trees, increasing the use of energy-efficient appliances and capturing methane gas from landfills. kerry.cavanaugh(at)dailynews.com (818) 713-3746 |
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