CalChamber Warns About Vote Wednesday on Gut-and-Amend ‘Job Killer’ Bills

The California Chamber of Commerce is warning that two gut-and-amend job killer bills will be voted on today.

“The California Chamber of Commerce has labeled a last-minute greenhouse gas emissions reduction proposal a job killer,” Cal Chamber reported August 25th.

As of August 31st, “two California Chamber of Commerce job killer bills that will lead to excessive costs and jeopardize thousands of high paying jobs in the state face a key hurdle today, as legislators work through remaining bills to close the 2022 legislative session.”

“The two job killer bills were hastily introduced last week through a “gut and amend” process, leading the CalChamber and a broad coalition of business groups and local chambers of commerce to point out that the time remaining in the legislative session is inadequate for the necessary full discussion of the proposals.”

The bills awaiting action today are:

• AB 2133 (Quirk; D-Hayward): Arbitrarily changes the state’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction goal from 40% of 1990 levels by 2030 to 55%. By the state’s own estimate, this proposal will force 17 million gas powered cars off the road in the next 10 years; and
• SB 1137 (Lena Gonzalez; D-Long Beach): Threatens to eliminate thousands of high-paying California jobs and force California to import even more foreign oil by politicizing and undermining the California Geologic Energy Management (CalGEM) Division’s ongoing regulatory process regarding new requirements near oil and gas extraction sites by predisposing what setback requirements should be before the agency even begins its analysis.

Cal Chamber reports:

“Increasing the GHG 2030 emissions reduction target from 40% to 55% below the 1990 level would require the state to remove an additional 17 million gasoline vehicles off the road by 2030, according to data developed by CARB.

Additionally, CARB data shows that CARB’s initial modeling of scenarios in this range concluded them to be ‘economically and technically infeasible due to the current lack of low-carbon energy infrastructure, unavailability of technology, large job loss and high implementation costs.’”

The Globe reported Tuesday on SB 1137 saying, “Senate Bill 1137, gut-and-amend legislation by Democrat Senators Lena Gonzalez and Monique Limón, would require 3,200-foot mandatory setbacks around California oil and gas wells.”

The CalChamber is rightly concerned about the Legislature killing oil and gas jobs. We asked, “Do the authors of AB 1137 understand that by banning existing oil wells, California will be thrust into immediate energy poverty? Is that the plan?”

“The proposal threatens approximately 8,000 jobs, including 3,000 high-paying jobs in the oil and gas industry, and another 5,000 jobs in supplying industries such as construction and trades,” Cal Chamber reports. “Arbitrary minimum setback requirements and pollution controls prescribed in the bill would affect 15,338 active and idle wells in California…”

Why would California emulate Europe’s rush to go green when the EU is now paying 80% higher energy bills after shunning oil, natural gas, and nuclear power, to its own detriment?European Union lawmakers voted in July to include natural gas and nuclear in the bloc’s list of sustainable activities in an attempt to fix the imbalance and energy shortage.

As we reported, Even Elon Musk knows we need more oil and gas production. CNBC reported: “Realistically I think we need to use oil and gas in the short term, because otherwise civilization will crumble,” Musk said.