In Memory of Army Paratrooper Ian Gelig

We are saddened by the news that Army Paratrooper Ian Gelig, a 25-year-old Stevenson Ranch resident, was killed this week while bravely serving in Afghanistan.

Ian, a 2002 graduate of Hart High School, was an 82nd Airborne Division Paratrooper and had been with the 782nd Brigade Support Battalion, 4th Brigade Combat Team since August 2009.

Ian is a true American hero and patriot whose bravery and commitment to the United States will be remembered for generations to come.

God bless Ian’s parents, Tim and Delia Gelig, and his two sisters, Vanessa and Liana Gelig, as they deal with the tragic death of their beloved son and brother.

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The following article ran in the Riverside Press Enterprise and is authored by my colleague, Sen. Bob Dutton, of Redlands.

Climate zealotry: Don't make California the global warming guinea pig
By Senator Bob Dutton

In his State of the State address, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger declared that jobs are his top priority and unveiled an initiative aimed at creating 100,000 jobs, streamlining regulations and curbing frivolous lawsuits.

The governor's proposals are a good first step. Allow me to suggest a vital second step: Put the brakes on out-of-control, unelected bureaucrats whose regulatory actions are killing jobs and endangering our economic future.

Just look at the California Air Resources Board. Even while furloughs slow work at other state agencies, the folks at the air resources board are speeding ahead with full force to impose sweeping, untested global warming regulations. They seem intent on making California the nation's global warming guinea pig.

They are not fighting for clean air or clean water but for reduced carbon emissions. The most common carbon emission by far is carbon dioxide, a gas that is an essential part of life itself -- we humans exhale it every time we breathe.

'Cap and tax'

Furthermore, these zealous folks are oblivious to harsh economic realities facing millions of Californians.

Californians are struggling with 2.2 million people out of work and an additional 1.5 million who have been forced to settle for part-time work. Yet California's unelected air regulators are ignoring concerns about the economic pain their policy pursuits will cause.

One costly job killing program under consideration by the board is a complex bidding system called "cap and trade." It might be better named "cap and tax" in that it would force businesses, local governments, universities and others to buy emissions allowances priced between $20 to $60 per ton. Many of our state's largest job creators would be forced to pay large amounts of money just to keep doing business in California.

These costs will be felt close to home.

Loma Linda University could be forced to pay nearly $4 million each year. Larger educational institutions, such as UC Los Angeles, face costs several times higher, which they may be forced to pass onto to their students in the form of higher fees.

The price Californians pay at the gas pump would also rise by an estimated 53 cents per gallon, as oil companies pass their new costs on to consumers. Farmers would also pass along higher energy costs, increasing the price we pay for food at the grocery store.

The cost of emissions allowances plus other air resource board mandates could cause California's already sky-high electricity rates to soar as much as 60 percent higher, adding hundreds of dollars per year to the average family's electricity bill.

The total economic impact of these costs on our struggling economy will be staggering. One study found that California's plan to fight global warming will result in an annual cost of $50,000 per small business and result in 1.1 million lost jobs.

The unelected bureaucrats at the board are also blind to the inconvenient truth that no one else is following. Few other states have passed anti-warming measures as stringent as California's. Sen. Barbara Boxer's legislation in Congress is losing steam rather than gaining supporters. And nothing of substance was accomplished during the recent climate change summit in Copenhagen, despite all the hype surrounding the conference.

More skeptics

Furthermore, Americans are growing more skeptical of global warming claims, and recently released e-mails show global warming scientists have embellished the role humans play in contributing to global warming.

These facts raise a number of pressing questions: Is the threat of global warming so great that any cost to our economy must be justified? Should California proceed with its carbon reduction efforts, even if the rest of the country and emerging economies such as China don't follow suit? Might it not be more sensible to use a carrot rather than a stick to encourage carbon emission reductions?

To truly prioritize jobs, Schwarzenegger and the Legislature must put the brakes on the California Air Resources Board and deal with these pressing questions.