California: Petition signature drive starts for greenhouse gas law measure
A backlash against efforts in California and Congress to rein in greenhouse gas emissions is brewing in hard economic times. A coalition of businesses ”” including two Bay Area oil refiners ”” and an anti-tax group has begun a signature drive for a November ballot initiative that would suspend California’s pioneering law to combat global warming until the jobless rate drops back to 2006 levels. Supporters of California’s law, including Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, say the initiative would cripple the state’s emerging clean energy industry.