In 2006, Arnold Schwarzenegger signed into California state law, a very important environmental emissions legislation, Ab32, that forced large companies to control their greenhouse gas emissions. The law required that large corporations would be monitored and required to cut down their greenhouse gas emissions to the levels they were at in 1990 by the year 2020. It was a landmark bill that was attempting to create a more environmentally conscientious state and did in fact create an upswing in green energy jobs and environmental innovation. However, the past four years since the bill was passed have been tumultuous in California to say the least, and critics have blamed the bill for limited job growth in established manufacturing jobs. In an effort to repeal the bill, the oil industry has funded an initiative to overturn the landmark AB32 law. Valero, Tesoro Companies, and Flint Hills Resources are three large contributors to the initiative donating over $6.5 million dollars.

To repeal AB32 would be detrimental to California and the nation as a whole. There is no doubt that businesses need to manufacture and distribute their products in a more environmentally conscious way. Day by day Californians are doing their part to are taking large steps to contribute to a cleaner state. Now it’s time for manufacturers to do their part, and so it is essential that voters let it be known that Ab32 needs to be voted NO on. To argue that job growth has been limited because of of AB32 is just not correct; job growth has been limited because of the economic problems of our whole country. If anything, saying yes to Proposition 23 is going to contribute to the growth of clean energy businesses who will be working day in and day out to ensure that California businesses are able to operate under the new guidelines, which will benefit all of us.