Struggling Schwarzenegger eyes enviro rule roll back

Tensions are rising between environmental groups and California's Governor Schwarzenegger as he seeks to rein in environmental protection measures in an attempt to kickstart the economy.

Schwarzenegger has built himself a reputation as a world leader on tackling climate change and has imposed some of the most stringent green regulations anywhere in the US since he took office.

However, his state's budget crisis is now so severe that some reports claim the government will run out of money next month - a scenario that prompted Schwarzenegger to write to President-Elect Obama earlier this month, asking him to "Waive or greatly streamline National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA) requirements consistent with our statutory proposals to modify the California Environment Quality Act (CEQA) for transportation projects".

CEQA demands that an environmental review is undertaken before any project requiring Government approval can go ahead.

The move was seized upon by green groups as evidence that the Governor was seeking to roll back important environmental protections in an attempt to accelerate state capital investment projects

"All Californians care about the fiscal health of our state, but relaxing environmental law is not the way to do it," responded Ann Notthoff, California advocacy director at the Natural Resources Defense Council. "California's dedication to our workforce and investment in developing clean energy technology has built our economy into the eighth largest economy in the world. These are tough times, but it's times like these that we need to work toward what's best for California."

Speaking at press conference this week, Schwarzenegger said that the relaxation of the environmental rules was needed to helkp tackle rising unemployment. "It’s about jobs, jobs, jobs," he said. "That's why I've been adamant about easing environmental regulations and other red tape in order to get the infrastructure going, to get infrastructure projects moving as quickly as possible."

The Governor, currently locked in a stalemate with his legislature over his proposed budget, urged Democrat legislators to compromise and approve the budget despite the push to water down environmental rules.

The request for Obama to waive the National Environmental Protection Act is not the first instance of Schwarzenegger seeking to streamline planning rules to water down environmental inspections. At the end of September, he signed bill SB 375, introducing rules to help plan suburban communities that produce fewer greenhouse gas emissions, but also exempting home construction projects from the California Environmental Quality Act.

Schwarzenegger has traditionally been an ally of environmental groups, but his complaints about the economic effect of delays to infrastructural projects have been mounting recently.

Up to 2,000 infrastructure projects are currently in danger of failing, he said, adding that the ability to rely on the government bonds market for extra capital is partly to blame for the financial mess. "The board that controls the state bank account has now pulled the plug on $3.8 billion of infrastructure loans; that means that thousands of infrastructure projects will be cancelled and that will have a devastating effect," he said in December.

California's unemployment rate was at 8.4 per cent in November, and is estimated to reach nine per cent.