Although some City Council members in the past have questioned the wisdom of endorsing state and national initiatives, at last evening’s meeting they unanimously endorsed the latest climate change-related bill from Sacramento.
One reason they endorsed Senate Bill 350, the Clean Energy and Pollution Reduction Act aimed at reducing greenhouse gases, said Vice Mayor Andy Weissman, “is that we already are undertaking a lot of what the bill is going to mandate other jurisdictions to do.
“The sentiment is, if the environment is going to be improved and protected, it will have to be done on a state level. It can’t be done by this jurisdiction and that jurisdiction. This must be a coordinated effort.”
Culver City, said Mr. Weissman, already is doing its share.
“We are designing buildings that are sustainable,” he said. “Our Transportation vehicles have been using compressed natural gas. In a sense, the state is catching up.”
The City Council’s approval isn’t going to change any Sacramento minds. Holly Mitchell, Culver City’s state senator, already has cast her positive vote for 350.
On the night that Mayor Mehaul O’Leary returned home safely from his regular mid-summer vacation to his native Ireland, Mr. Weissman emerged as a skeptical supporter. “There is a whole host of unknowns in this bill,” whose chief aim is listed as “creating jobs.”
The vice mayor said if Gov. Brown signs SB 350 into law, regulatory agencies “will be directed to promulgate certain standards. We don’t know what the standards will be. We don’t know necessarily whether the standards will have a financial impact on the city. We may have to change our fleet operations to something not petroleum-based.”
Nevertheless, said Mr. Weissman, “this Council believes efforts need to be undertaken to avoid longer term adverse consequences.”
