California Gubernatorial Hopeful Vows to Reverse Emissions Rules

By Kate Galbraith

Meg WhitmanGetty Images The needs of the environment, said the California gubernatorial candidate Margaret C. Whitman, “have to be balanced with the needs of our people.”

Margaret C. Whitman, the former chief executive of eBay who declared her candidacy for the California governorship on Tuesday, hopes to roll back California’s law requiring deep cuts in the state’s greenhouse gas emissions.

“As governor, I would work hard to protect our environment,” Ms. Whitman said Wednesday, according to The San Diego Union Tribune. “But the needs of our environment have to be balanced with the needs of our people and the needs of our economy. We have too many overreaching environmental regulations that have left us at an economic disadvantage to our neighboring states.”

Ms. Whitman, a Republican, is in the race to replace the current governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, whose term is expiring.

Mr. Schwarzenegger signed the law requiring the emissions cuts in 2006.

Ms. Whitman’s chief Democratic opponent at the moment, Gavin Newsom, the mayor of San Francisco, wrote in CleanTechnica today that Ms. Whitman’s proposal amounted to “backwards thinking.”

On the third anniversary of the new emissions rule’s passage, Mr. Newsom wrote, “we should acknowledge that its oft-vilified targets are not only achievable but also actually good for California’s economy.”

Mr. Newsom’s environmental initiatives include requiring a sharp increase in recycling and composting in San Francisco. He also praised the San Francisco Airport’s installation last week of carbon offset kiosks, which enable travelers to invest in tree-planting and other projects intended to offset the greenhouse gas emissions associated with their flights.

Comments are no longer being accepted.

jim h September 24, 2009 · 4:38 pm

She’s clueless. And fresh from a gigantic blunder at Ebay: the pointless acquisition of Skype.

Charles September 24, 2009 · 5:09 pm

How can someone this behind the times still exist? Has she not noticed all the money that is pouring into sustainability focused businesses? Yikes.

Big Bill September 24, 2009 · 7:42 pm

So much for meritocracy. If you fail at business, why not try your hand at politics? The standards are so much lower, and if you fail, there’s either Club Fed and/or an office on K St. At least politics rewards you for being dumb.

Why is it museum quality fossils keep getting put on display like they’re a real live thing? Surely she must realize that as a conservative, the way to greater efficiency and profitability is to conserve, not to waste? Isn’t that what (great) CEO’s do, cut waste? Make piles of money? Return value to investor? Perhaps she thinks that all the hot air she’s emitting from her piehole will simply blow all of Cali’s problems away. If there ever was a waste of space, she’s not only it, she’s stealing the light from the smarter, more innovative, and dynamic thinkers that have the cranial capacity to actually address Cali’s myriad environmental, social, economic, and political issues. If this is the best the Republicans can come up with, what’s the worst? Pat “Praise Jesus and pass the bullets” Roberts? Glenn “I’m off my meds but don’t mind me” Bleck? I shudder to think that the only thing going for her, from the perspective of conservative voters, is that she’s white and all the words coming out of her mouth could have been written for Leave It Beaver. I guess being a CEO of a (formerly) innovative tech company only counts if you created it, and not if you were an appointed seat warmer. Good luck on you’re run Meg Whoever, way to Skype that in, and I look forward to not hearing from you ever again.

Hilary September 24, 2009 · 8:41 pm

Meg Whitman will let poor people starve to death because she’s a dirty capitalist. A working-class person would have to be suicidal to vote for her.

mbstone September 24, 2009 · 8:50 pm

You can’t buy the governorship of California. You might not remember Al Checchi or Michael Huffington, but we Californians do. And what exactly is it about Whitman’s eBay tenure that we are supposed to admire? Imperious customer service? Unending fee hikes?

zd September 24, 2009 · 9:06 pm

She might have made millions directing ebay but when it comes to a reality check, she might be just in the same category as Sarah Palin.

The rest of the world is getting it and finally we have put the Bush are behind the US. Schwarzenegger was the one who was right and the Republicans should applaud him for being the leader on that issue.

Reversing the green house emissions in CA will set the US back economically and much more. LA is one of the smoggiest towns in the US if not the world.

US businesses (and specially CA) are benefiting from the new standards and making money. She must be dreaming, plain ignorant, or just being on the pay list of a special interest group.

If the Republicans want to have a chance right now, they should not go the same route they did with Sarah Palin – they should get someone that is new in politics but has the right stuff. It looks like she does not have it and might become the Sarah Palin of CA – bail out before the end of the term!

RM – InBoundMarketingPR September 24, 2009 · 9:46 pm

More research & better technology is being sought on a daily basis to assist in the sustainability of our environment.
Great example is the smart grid technology, which will help both the environment and our pockets.
For more info on smartgrid & clean energy visit – //www.titanenergyworldwide.com/

RM

Noah September 25, 2009 · 2:44 am

Yeah, destroy California’s blossoming green tech economy. That’s smart. Just what we need, more poor californian’s desperately selling off their possessions on e-bay to stay afloat. Oh, I get it now….

Patricia013 September 25, 2009 · 12:52 pm

I’m an 11 year ex-Ebay seller. I can tell you that throughout the 11 years Meg squeezed small sellers mercilessly for higher and higher fees for less and less service. In the end she turned the reins over to her co-hort, John Donahoe, who is now chasing small sellers off the site at record speed. The very sellers who built Ebay have been manipulated and mistreated since day one! Whitman only knows dollars – preferably HERS to the detriment of good business sense. She will do the same to California – squeeze the little guy so the big fatcats can profit! Don’t fall for her stories – they are just that – stories cooked up by her PR people and colored to make her look good! She hasn’t even bothered to vote much in California so she’s the very last person who should be allowed to govern California!

Solar Fred September 25, 2009 · 1:51 pm

Well, there was little chance I was going to vote for her anyway given her (non) record, but now I’ll really campaign against here if she even gets the Republican nomination.

Could be wrong, but I don’t think Republicans here in California are this wrong headed about the environment. Social issues, okay, but going green at full speed seems to be something that both Repubs and Dems agree on. Perhaps Ms Whitman would fair better in another state. We won’t miss her.

Mark September 27, 2009 · 8:05 am

That is awesome news. It’s about time someone has seen the light. There is a great deception behind all these so called “greenhouse gas emissions” and the regulations that are being created to control them. Truth – we need to be conservative in the emissions that are created by transportation & businesses, but don’t throw the baby out with the bath water. The present emission regulations & the regulations that are being pushed in government are choking the life right out of our country. Business owners are tired of fighting with our government. so they have moved production to places like Mexico, China & other third world countries were they can’t be regulated by the US. What good has EPA been? Maybe the US has “clean air” but globally EPA has done nothing except make the situation worse;i.e., China during the Olympics. The emissions being pushed on Diesel engines is going to impact everyone’s pocket book. The US industries are going to need to upgrade their equipment – that means New Trucks, Construction Equipment, Generator Sets, Maine Equipment & Agricultural Equipment and where do you think all this money is going to come from? Your pocket & mine my friend and it’s not going to be cheap. But wait – there are no jobs in the US to pay for all this, because there are NO businesses in the US. We have gone full circle. Get the picture now?