[BATN] Jerry Brown, California's warming-fighting attorney general Date: Fri, 14 Dec 2007 19:00:08 -0000

Published Friday, December 14, 2007, by The Associated Press

Jerry Brown fights global warming

OAKLAND -- Nearly four decades after entering California politics,
Jerry Brown has reinvented himself yet again, this time as a carbon-
fighting attorney general.

In less than a year as the state's top law enforcement official,
the former governor, presidential candidate and Oakland mayor has
emerged as a major player in the national debate on global warming.

With threats, petitions, negotiated deals and a series of lawsuits,
the Democratic attorney general has used his new post to pressure
automakers, county governments and the Bush administration to curb
emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases blamed for
warming the planet.

"It is the most important environmental issue facing the state and
the world, and that's why it's something that has to be dealt with
creatively and very aggressively," Brown said. "I'm trying to reduce
greenhouse gas emissions in a lawful, practical way."

But industry representatives and other critics say Brown is misusing
his powers as attorney general to advance his climate change agenda.

"We disagree with the way he's using the courts to set national
social and environmental policy," said Dave Spirling, vice president
of the Sacramento-based Pacific Legal Foundation. "He's trying to
force certain types of solutions on very difficult problems" --
problems that should be handled by lawmakers in Washington, he said.

Like Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, the 69-year-old Brown
has made climate change a centerpiece of his administration,
charging ahead with an issue that seemingly can't lose with the
state's eco-minded voters.

Some political observers speculate that Brown is pushing global
warming -- and racking up headlines -- in preparation for another
gubernatorial bid (Brown can run again because current term limits
were not in place when he was governor). Others say he's championed
the environment throughout his career and is only using the attorney
general's office as a bully pulpit for an issue he cares deeply
about.

"He was environmental before it was fashionable," said Barbara
O'Connor, who directs the Institute for the Study of Politics
and Media at California State University, Sacramento. "I think he
really does believe this is essential for the planet."

Environmentalists are happy with what they've seen so far.

"Jerry Brown is taking the strongest action of any attorney general
in the country," said Kieran Suckling, policy director at the Center
for Biological Diversity. "What Brown is doing is not only setting a
precedent for other states. He's also setting precedent for national
policy on global warming at a time when there's a national vaccum."

Some observers compare Brown to Eliot Spitzer, who made a national
name by taking on powerful Wall Street firms as New York's attorney
general. His campaign for corporate reform landed him in the
governor's office.

"They are both very willing to take on the federal government," said
Sean Hecht, who heads the environmental law center at the University
of California Los Angeles. "They perceive a failure at the federal
level and decide to take aggressive action."

Brown, the son of two-time Democratic Gov. Edmund G. "Pat" Brown, has
been a fixture of California politics since he was elected secretary
of state in 1970. He then served two terms as governor, from 1975 to
1983, when he promoted energy efficiency and alternative energy
sources like wind mills and solar panels when oil prices rose to
record highs.

He also ran for president three times, studied Zen Buddhism in Japan,
worked with Mother Teresa and hosted a talk show before spending
eight years as mayor of Oakland, where he still lives and works.

Since defeating state Sen. Chuck Poochigian in the attorney general's
race last year, Brown has picked up where predecessor Bill Lockyer,
now the state's treasurer, left off.

Brown has pursued California's quest to enact its own vehicle
emissions standards, which have been adopted by 16 other states but
opposed by the auto industry.

The states won a major legal victory Wednesday when a federal judge
in Fresno ruled that states can regulate greenhouse gas emissions
from new cars and light trucks, dismissing a lawsuit by automakers
that claimed federal regulations pre-empt state rules.

But California and the other states still need a waiver from the
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to impose their own tailpipe
standards. Brown sued the EPA in November to force the agency to
act on California's two-year-old request to regulate auto emissions.

Nationally, Brown has teamed up with the Sierra Club, Natural
Resources Defense Council and other environmental groups to petition
the Bush administration to start regulating carbon emissions from
automobiles, airplanes, utility equipment and large oceangoing
vessels. They plan to sue if the government doesn't act on their
requests.

Brown has also pursued "public nuissance" litigation seeking millions
of dollars in compensation for global warming-induced floods and
other natural disasters caused emissions from automakers and coal
plant manufacturers. But lawsuits against both industries were
recently dismissed by judges, and critics say the courts are not the
venue to tackle climate change.

"We remain convinced that tort litigation in state and federal court
against certain industries is not the right way to address global
warming," said Ted Boutrous, who represented the world's six top
automakers in the lawsuit. "It truly is a national and international
policy issue."

Brown has also sought to force county governments and businesses in
California to consider global warming in new construction projects
and development plans. ConocoPhillips Co., the Port of Los Angeles
and San Bernardino County recently agreed to reduce or offset carbon
emissions under deals struck by his office.

Brown's lawsuit against San Bernardino County, which was settled in
August, "got local governments and developers to sit up and take
notice that they won't be able to do business as usual," said Bill
Allayaud, the Sierra Club's California legislative director.

Brown says he'll keep pursuing his campaign against climate change
until Washington takes serious action.

"The challenge is so all-encompassing," he said, "so the response
must be equal."

Office of the Attorney General: http://ag.ca.gov

[BATN: See also:

Court upholds California right to limit auto GHG emisssions
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BATN/message/36795

California AG Brown petitions EPA to regulate aircraft emissions
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BATN/message/36734

California to sue Bush EPA over vehicular GHG emission limits
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BATN/message/36510

Brown, enviros push Bush EPA to regulate ship GHG emissions
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BATN/message/36326

Judge tosses CA global-warming lawsuit against automakers
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BATN/message/36170 ]

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