As our state continues its effort to reduce GHG emissions, California manufacturers continue to do their part in improving the environment in the face of higher operational costs, including electricity costs that are 70 percent more expensive than the rest of the country.
Two bills in the Senate Democrat’s climate change package — SB 350 and SB 32 — set overly aggressive new targets and requirements for California but provide little understanding of the costs for manufacturers and the state’s economy.
There is too much we do not know about the impact of these and until we understand the real costs of existing greenhouse gas reduction targets, California elected officials can’t provide the tools that manufacturers and other sectors need to reduce emissions and stay competitive in a global economy.
However, we do know that under recent policies, energy prices have risen out of proportion with the rest of the nation even though we have long been the most energy efficient in the country. Those costs negatively impact California’s ability to attract more manufacturing investment, and in 2014 we only attracted two percent of the country’s new and expanded manufacturing facilities.
To date, no other state or nation has imposed such stringent requirements on itself without providing an off-ramp if prices spike or technologies do not prove out from concept to reality. If we desire to lead the world, we must create policies that show economic vitality and job growth across the economy. If we get this right, we can grow our economy and reduce our contribution to global climate change even more, and get the rest of the country to follow with their own strict targets.