California Chamber of Commerce—the Jekyll and Hyde Approach to the Environment

In May, 2017, the California Business Roundtable, led by Rob Lapsley, SUPPORTED Cap and Trade, the measure that gave us a 72 cent a gallon gas tax, starting in two years, a job killer. From the Los Angeles Times, “The stance is further evidence of the shifting political landscape on climate change since Brown signed legislation last year setting a tough new target for reducing emissions by 2030. Business groups, including the Western States Petroleum Assn. and the California Business Roundtable, want to preserve cap-and-trade to prevent the state from turning to more onerous regulations.”

Now they are OPPOSED to the obvious extension of Cap and Trade—ending oil/gas driven cars. The same Lapsley said, ““This legislation will lead to an expensive new burden for all Californians, especially middle-class families. Electric vehicles remain too expensive and impractical for many residents. This new mandate will act as yet another tax on working families who will be forced into buying a more expensive car that may not fit their needs.

I have known Rob for many years, these positions, both for the consumer and against the consumer are not surprising. Consistency of position is not the hallmark of Statewide business leaders in California—otherwise why do they want lower taxes, less regulation, more freedom and then donate to Newsom, Brown and other Socialist/Democrats? Confusing? This is just one example of how business sells out to Big Government and the Radical Environmentalists and then say, they were wrong.

Statement in Response to New Legislation Banning New
Gas-Powered Vehicles in 2040

Brooke Armour, California Business Roundtable, 1/3/18 /

(SACRAMENTO)— Rob Lapsley, president of the California Business Roundtable, issued the following statement in response to AB 1745, new legislation introduced today by Assemblyman Phil Ting (D- San Francisco) to require all new vehicles purchased after 2040 be zero-emissions vehicles (ZEVs):

“This legislation will lead to an expensive new burden for all Californians, especially middle-class families. Electric vehicles remain too expensive and impractical for many residents. This new mandate will act as yet another tax on working families who will be forced into buying a more expensive car that may not fit their needs.

“Most importantly, California regulators have had some sort of ZEV mandate in place since 1990. Now, 28 years later, true ZEVs, as defined by this legislation, are just 2.5 percent of market share. In 2009, the Schwarzenegger administration set a goal of 1.5 million ZEVs by 2025. We are more than half way to that deadline and ZEV sales are at just 11.5 percent of the goal. We have yet to accomplish a goal that has been set.

“Achieving 100 percent new vehicle ZEV registration by 2040 will require drastic, punitive and very expensive actions that will disproportionately affect those who can least afford them. Working families are already dealing with our highest-in-the-nation poverty rate, a housing crisis and some of the highest-in-the-nation energy costs. AB 1745 will simply be another expensive mandate forcing up the cost of living and sending the wrong message to lower- and middle-class residents of our state. ”

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The California Business Roundtable is a non-partisan organization comprised of major employers throughout the state – with a combined workforce of more than 600,000 employees. For more than 40 years the Roundtable has identified the issues critical to a healthy business climate and provided the leadership needed to strengthen California’s economy and create jobs.