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CARB’s 50th anniversary
The California Air Resources Board (CARB) celebrated their 50th anniversary at the UC Davis Conference Center on January 19th. CARB became a state agency under then Governor Reagan following continued efforts to reduce the amount of smog in the Los Angeles areas. The smog was so heavy in the 50's- early 1970's in the LA area that the public became more vocal in demanding that government help protect their children's health.
This led to clean air policies such as unleaded gas, and in 2002 AB 1493, California's tailpipe Emission Law , authored by Fran Pavley, was signed into law. This was the first greenhouse gas emission bill in the Nation that would help clean up the air and reduce climate pollution. Other states followed by introducing and passing California's Tailpipe Emissions Law and then the US federal government and Canada eventually adopted these regulations. Governor Schwarzenegger personally interceded asking the Bush administration for a waiver to allow the bill to be implemented, and California was not successful until 2009. AB 1493 was an important part of AB 32, the landmark Global Warming Solutions Act bill that was signed into law by Governor Schwarzenegger. This landmark law was a multi sector approach to reducing emissions that included market based mechanisms, cap and trade, to assist emitters in complying with the reduction targets in the most cost effective, flexible manner. The law empowered CARB to oversee the implementation of the cap-and-trade program. A framed photo of the historic bill signing of AB 32 in San Francisco, signed by Governor Schwarzenegger, was presented to Mary Nichols, Chair of the ARB for both Governor Schwarzenegger and Gov. Brown and Vice-Chair Sandy Berg, who was appointed to the CARB in 2004 by Governor Schwarzenegger to celebrate CARB's 50th anniversary and thank them for their effforts to implement air and climate policy laws.
The Institute is proud to work with CARB, including co-hosting convening on climate change and supporting other regions in the U.S and around the globe interested in the lessons learned in California. The Institute, in partnership with the National Caucus of Environmental Legislators (NCEL), recently launched the Digital Environmental Legislative Handbook.