RESOURCES Economics News

California Economists Sign Letter to Governor and Legislators

Sixty of the state’s leading economists, including three Nobel laureates, have signed a letter to the legislature and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger urging state leaders to accelerate climate action. It calls emissions caps a "particularly potent strategy" and warns that "the most expensive things we can do is nothing."

"California's economy is vulnerable to climate impacts, but it can benefit from climate action," said Michael Hanemann, University of California, Berkeley professor of agricultural and resource economics and a lead signer of the economists' statement. "The economic evidence supports a cap on global warming emissions."

New UC Berkeley Report: Global Warming Cap Can Stimulate California's Economy

A new UC Berkeley report finds that returning California global warming emissions to 1990 levels by 2020, as envisioned by pending global warming legislation, can boost the annual Gross State Product (GSP) by $60 billion and create 17,000 new jobs by 2020.

The report, "Economic Growth and Greenhouse Gas Mitigation in California," offers an independent assessment of the economic benefits of Assembly Bill 32 (AB 32), The Global Warming Solutions Act, sponsored by Assemblyman Fabian Nuñez (D-Los Angeles) and Assemblywoman Fran Pavley (D-Agoura Hills).

The study finds that the gains could be even larger—$74 billion in annual GSP and 89,000 new jobs by 2020—if climate policies are designed to create direct incentives for California companies to invest in new technology.

"Our study demonstrates that meeting the 2020 limits under debate in Sacramento can stimulate the state economy," said David Roland-Holst, UC Berkeley adjunct professor of agricultural and resource economics and author of the report. "Climate action can be profitable."