California Regulators: Climate Change a Bigger Threat than Felons

by Capitol Confidential

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) is known for its relentless pursuit of initiatives to combat pollution and emissions it deems harmful, including carbon dioxide. However, one of its efforts designed to counter climate change has the agency attracting incoming fire, with critics charging that CARB is more concerned about the prospect of global warming than protecting the public from felons.

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At issue is a CARB measure known as the “Cool Cars” rule that requires the application of certain additives to window glass. The theory behind the mandate is that reflective windshields will prevent cars from overheating, and thus reduce reliance on air conditioning, which affects how much fuel is burnt by a car. Proponents of climate change theory attribute changes in temperature to human activity, including the burning of fossil fuels, whereas skeptics charge that such theory amounts to a load of hot air.

What is certain in the debate over this mandate is that CARB’s action has a lot of people hot under the collar: While the glaze ostensibly prevents excess solar heat from entering cars, critics say it also seriously degrades the signal sent by a whole host of electronic devices, including GPS navigation systems, cellular phones and—perhaps most critically— ankle monitoring bracelets worn by felons, which utilize GPS technology.

On that point, which regulators and legislators have to-date not acknowledged, law enforcement groups and victim rights advocates have been expressing “grave concerns” about the new regulation. In a recent letter obtained by Capitol Confidential, the California Police Chiefs Association, the California Narcotics Officers Association and the California Peace Officers’ Association cautioned that the new regulation “threatens to undermine an already imperfect monitoring tool.”

Warning that prison overcrowding and budget shortfalls necessitate the release of additional felons, none of whom could be properly monitored under the regulation, the glaze would “virtually vitiate the effectiveness of GPS monitoring.” “At a time when the public safety of California communities is being challenged as never before,” the letter reads, “the crippling of important GPS monitoring and the utility of cellular phones to seek emergency assistance is not helpful.”

In line with the disconcerting reminder from law enforcement that “horrific crimes” take place when the GPS signal of ankle monitoring devices are dropped, Crime Victims United of California also wrote state regulators last month that the group had “serious concerns” with the new initiative. “Given the difficulty in adequately monitoring the prison, jail and parolee population as it is this regulation should be halted immediately as it will result in even greater problems for the state in monitoring its GPS population,” the group’s president wrote. “[T]his approach to global warming is unacceptable and has crime victims in an uproar.”

Typically, criticisms of California’s approach to combating the perceived threat of climate change have tended to center on the impact of state initiatives on jobs. Just this week, California’s Legislative Analyst’s Office indicated that the state’s climate change policy would likely lead to “modest” job losses in the short term.

This new uproar could, observers say, result in CARB easing its “Cool Cars” regulation.


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Posted Mar 10th 2010 at 8:14 pm in Environment, Politics, Regulation, State Politics | 113 Comments