Santa Maria Sun / News

Political Watch 2/20/14

• With the release of an updated scoping plan for California’s clean energy and climate law—Assembly Bill 32—comes praise from the American Lung Association in California that things are moving in the right direction. “The AB 32 scoping plan draft helps steer California to a future of clean air and healthier families,” a press release sent out by the organization said. “We envision a state with healthy air, more walkable neighborhoods, safe places for children to play outside, fewer miles driven and more transit option, and cleaner vehicles and fuels.” The association added that it wants the scoping plan to set more specific reduction targets for each program or industry included in the document. The updated plan was released on Feb. 10 and lays out how the state will reach the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions in California to 80 percent below 1990’s levels by 2050. In the updated scoping plan, the California Air Resources Board wrote that California is on track to meet the near-term goal for 2020—which is to get greenhouse gas emissions to what they were in 1990, or 427 million metric tons of carbon dioxide-equivalent emissions—and is in good shape to continue reducing emissions beyond 2020. “Collectively, these actions are evidence of California’s ability to show that it is possible to break the historical connection between economic growth and associated increases in energy demand, combustion of carbon-intensive resources, and pollution,” the air resources board wrote.

• The Santa Maria Valley Republicans are having a lunch meeting at 11:30 a.m. on Feb. 27 at the Santa Maria Radisson Hotel. The cost is $25 and comes with the choice of five different meals. For a list of food or to RSVP for the meeting, call 720-8406. Upcoming primary and general elections will be the topic of the afternoon, and the speaker will be Chris Mitchum.

• A divided federal appeals court ruled on Feb. 13 that California is wrong to require law-abiding citizens to show good cause in order to receive a concealed weapons permit, the Associated Press reported. The ruling strikes down the state’s concealed weapons rules. The court said the rules violate the Second Amendment right to bear arms and that all law-abiding citizens have the right to carry concealed weapons outside of the home for self-defense purposes. The Associated Press reported that the three-judge panel’s decision was in contrast to two other federal appeals courts that have upheld permit rules similar to California’s.