Assembly Republican leader reacts angrily to Air Resources Board study

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Assembly Republican leader Martin Garrick, R-Solana Beach, lashed out at the state’s top environmental regulator Wednesday in the wake of a new study about California’s greenhouse gas laws. The study from the Air Resources Board said the state would not suffer any economic consequences from adopting new restrictions on greenhouse gases.

In a statement Wednesday, Garrick said the ARB’s findings did not ring true.

‘The Air Resources Board has clearly gone overboard in suggesting that massive new global-warming taxes and regulations will create more California jobs than they cost,’ he wrote. ‘The board’s self-justifying study touting the benefits of [the proposed regulations] stands in stark contrast to findings by the Legislative Analyst’s Office ... and many other economic analyses. The near-term loss of jobs in manufacturing and other industries will far outweigh any green jobs that might be created by 2020.’ Voters may get their say on the state’s greenhouse gas law, which aims to roll back such emissions to 1990 levels by 2020. A measure to repeal the law is currently gathering signatures for the November ballot.

The measure is being sponsored by oil companies and other business groups, and is opposed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and environmentalists.

-- Anthony York