The fight against climate change continues with California officials pledging Monday to keep pushing for laws that will improve the status of the environment.
Leading Democratic donor and billionaire environmental activist Tom Steyer held a conference with top political leaders like Gov. Jerry Brown, who plans on introducing a law in 2015 that will require California's public-employee pension funds to sell their coal-related investments, according to SFGate.
Climate change is the top priority of the California state Senate President, Pro Tem Kevin de Leon, D-Los Angeles, who called coal a "dirty fossil fuel" that is hardly used to generate California's electricity.
"And I think our values should shift in California," de Leon said.
While the state is already planning on reducing greenhouse gas emissions in favor of renewable sources by 2020, discussions have started about making new goals to expand the programs, with Assembly Speaker Toni Atkins (D-San Diego) saying the state needs to focus on "2030 and '50 and beyond," The Los Angeles Times reported. Goals for lawmakers include developing a more energy-efficient method for transporting water and setting tighter limits on methane and other pollutants.
De Leon said the current environmental programs in California have produced a number of benefits for the state, such as new jobs and greater investment in new technology.
"Any efforts to undermine our climate change policies is undermining our global leadership and the future of our economy in the state of California, and the world is watching," he said.
California is also getting ready to apply its cap-and-trade program to transportation fuels in January, The Los Angeles Times reported. Under this program, polluters must buy credits so they can emit greenhouse gases.
While the possibility of higher gas prices has been a concern among Democratic lawmakers, Atkins believes it is a small price to pay.
"Maybe there will be a little bit of an increase in gas prices... A few pennies maybe," she said. "But compared to the overall good it does for our economy and our environment, it's something well worth the effort."
Steyer compared the conflict between environmentalists and oil companies to a "Star Wars"-like battle, casting the latter as a group of Darth Vaders, SFGate reported.
"I like to think about it as 'Star Wars' redux," Steyer said. "We've had this fight before. We will win it again. The Jedi will always return."
