BILL NUMBER: SJR 17	CHAPTERED
	BILL TEXT

	RESOLUTION CHAPTER  7
	FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE  APRIL 26, 2010
	ADOPTED IN SENATE  SEPTEMBER 9, 2009
	ADOPTED IN ASSEMBLY  APRIL 22, 2010

INTRODUCED BY   Senators Leno and Pavley
   (Principal coauthor: Assembly Member Monning)

                        JULY 23, 2009

   Relative to greenhouse gases.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SJR 17, Leno. Climate change: ocean acidification: Arctic.
   This measure would reaffirm the Legislature's commitment to
reducing greenhouse gases in California to 1990 levels by 2020. It
would urge the United States Environmental Protection Agency to
regulate greenhouse gases and the federal government to persevere in
its commitment to leading the world in efforts to address global
climate change and ocean acidification, and reduce the concentration
of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere to 350 parts per million.



   WHEREAS, The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, an
international body comprised of scientists and governments (including
the United States), concluded in its Fourth Assessment Report
completed in 2007 that "[w]arming of the climate system is
unequivocal... [and m]ost of the observed increase in global average
temperatures since the mid-20th century is very likely due to the
observed increase in anthropogenic greenhouse gas concentrations";
and
   WHEREAS, Impacts from climate change are becoming apparent in
California and around the world; and
   WHEREAS, The Arctic is warming twice as fast as the rest of the
planet, and Arctic climate change is predicted to result in major
impacts in the region, some of which are already underway; and
   WHEREAS, The planet's oceans are becoming more acidic and this
ocean acidification, caused by emissions of carbon dioxide, will
affect the Arctic more rapidly than other regions; and
   WHEREAS, The United States is an Arctic nation; and
   WHEREAS, The Arctic is home to unique communities that are an
important part of the shared cultural tapestry of the world; and
   WHEREAS, The Arctic is also home to some of the last remaining
relatively pristine ecosystems, which support populations of some of
the world's most iconic wildlife species such as brown and polar
bears; caribou; wolves; bowhead, beluga, and gray whales; narwhals;
and walruses; and
   WHEREAS, The current and predicted impacts of Arctic climate
change and ocean acidification threaten the health and welfare of
people living in the Arctic; and
   WHEREAS, Arctic climate change, ocean acidification, and their
consequences are likely to cause harm to the health and welfare of
Californians, including, as follows:
   (a) Loss of Arctic sea ice and associated warming of the Arctic
may alter winter storm tracks along the west coast of North America
and precipitation patterns in California.
   (b) Rapid warming of the Arctic may accelerate melt of the
Greenland ice sheet with the potential to result in significant sea
level rise this century.
   (c) The stronger warming expected in the Arctic compared with
lower latitudes could hasten thaw of terrestrial permafrost,
potentially resulting in large releases of carbon dioxide and methane
to the atmosphere, which would lead to further global warming.
   (d) The changes to Arctic ecosystems will reverberate globally by
affecting migratory species that depend on Arctic habitats, the gray
whales, for example, which swim in California water on their journey
to and from feeding grounds in the Arctic.
   WHEREAS, The maintenance and rebuilding of Arctic sea ice is one
measure of efforts to slow climate change; and
   WHEREAS, The United States Supreme Court recently held that
greenhouse gases are air pollutants as defined by the federal Clean
Air Act, and the United States Environmental Protection Agency has
issued a proposed finding that greenhouse gases endanger the public
health and welfare; and
   WHEREAS, Pursuant to the federal Clean Air Act, the United States
Environmental Protection Agency has the authority and responsibility
to regulate emissions of greenhouse gases; and
   WHEREAS, Until recently, the United States was the largest emitter
of greenhouse gases, and is now second only to China; and
   WHEREAS, The economic costs of failing to mitigate climate change
and ocean acidification will far outweigh the costs of regulating
greenhouse gases; and
   WHEREAS, Science about climate change and ocean acidification in
the Arctic and its worldwide implications has been presented to the
United States Environmental Protection Agency in a formal petition
for rulemaking entitled "As Goes The Arctic So Goes The Planet"
signed by mayors, villages, Alaska native organizations, and others;
and
   WHEREAS, With the passage of the California Global Warming
Solutions Act of 2006 (Division 25.5 (commencing with Section 38500)
of the Health and Safety Code), California is at the forefront of
efforts in the United States to regulate greenhouse gases, and
remains committed to this effort; and
   WHEREAS, The State of California hosted the Governors' Global
Climate Summit on the need to tackle climate change; and
   WHEREAS, Scientific evidence suggests that if humanity wishes to
preserve a planet like the one on which civilization developed and to
which life on Earth is adapted, we must reduce the atmospheric
concentration of carbon dioxide to at most 350 parts per million;
now, therefore, be it
   Resolved by the Senate and the Assembly of the State of
California, jointly, That the California Legislature remains
committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions in California to 1990
levels by 2020; and be it further
   Resolved, That the California Legislature urges the United States
Environmental Protection Agency to regulate greenhouse gas emissions
from mobile and stationary sources to protect the health and welfare
of the Arctic, the rest of the United States, and the world; and be
it further
   Resolved, That the California Legislature urges the President and
Congress of the United States to persevere in their commitment to
become world leaders in the effort to address global climate change
and ocean acidification, and reduce atmospheric concentration of
carbon dioxide to 350 parts per million; and be it further
   Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of this
resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.