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Pair of Texas-Based Oil Refiners Contribute $600,000 to Anti A.B. 32 Initiative Effort





Boosters of a bid to block implementation of California's far-reaching emissions control law, A.B. 32,  say the effort is aimed at protecting jobs in the state. Indeed, the name of the measure is the California Jobs Initiative.


But the first campaign finance documents filed since the effort began to qualify the initiative for the ballot show that its biggest supporters are two Texas oil companies - although both have operations in California.


AB 32, which takes effect in 2012,  gives the state the right to set greenhouse gas emissions standards and promotes use of alternative fuels that would help reduce gasoline and oil consumption throughout the state.


The California Jobs Initiative would block implementation of the rules until the state's jobless rate - now 12.5 percent - falls to 5.5 percent.


California law permits private organizations to qualify initiatives for the state ballot by collecting the required number of registered voters' signatures. In recent years, the initiative process has been widely used by groups trying to overturn state laws they don't like or to effect changes a largely inefficient state legislature - paralyzed by bitter partisan divides - won't tackle.


It also has spawned a big business in collecting initiative petition signatures for a fee - which has made initiative campaigns, once grassroots operations,  increasingly costly.


In papers filed this week with the California Secretary of State's office, the California Jobs Initiative said that it has collected nearly $1 million from just seven organizations to help qualify the initiative for the ballot this year.


The biggest financial backer is Valero Energy Corp., which gave $500,000. The San Antonio, Texas, company operates a refinery in Northern California and a string of gas stations throughout the state.


Tesoro Energy Corp., also of San Antonio, gave $100,000.


California-based gasoline distributor and convenience store operator Tower Energy Group and California refiner and distributor World Oil Corp. also each gave $100,000, and Southern Counties Oil Co., a Southern California petroleum distributor, gave $50,000.


The California-based Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Assn., an anti-tax group, gave $100,000.

Tags: Emissions, Energy Companies, Legislation, AB 32, California Jobs initiative, Emissions, Greenhouse Gas

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Bid to Block California Emissions Law Backed Largely by Oil Cos. was originally published by Green Car Advisor. Read the full story by clicking here.