by Nora K. Wallace, September 17, 2004
Governor vetoes Jackson's bill on green building saying the legislation duplicates his and other efforts on "green" building practices.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Thursday vetoed a bill by Assemblywoman Hannah-Beth Jackson.
Ms. Jackson, D-Santa Barbara, sought through AB 2311 to establish sustainable building goals for California. If made into law, the bill would have required the state to develop sustainable — or green — building goals within state building standards.
"I'm really disappointed, and I think our community will be very disappointed," Ms. Jackson said. "Green building has been something Santa Barbara County has really embraced. I'm disappointed the governor has not signed this to ensure this will be the policy in the state for years to come."
Such building practices, the lawmaker said, promote efficient use of energy, materials and water because they use recycled materials and encourage the use of natural light, among other efforts.
In his veto message, the governor said he has already directed his administration to create a working group to develop green building initiatives for public and private buildings.
"The group is currently developing recommendations for a comprehensive program to dramatically advance energy conservation as well as incorporate other green building principles into commercial buildings," the governor noted. "This bill is largely identical to an executive order passed in the prior administration. This order has not been rescinded and is still in effect."
That order, by former Gov. Gray Davis, applied to state agencies and encouraged compliance with the practices.
Ms. Jackson's bill, Mr. Schwarzenegger said, would not improve existing efforts to increase the use of sustainable building practices. This bill — more so than the executive order — would have made it "clearly the policy of the state of California . . . to encourage green building businesses to pursue these kind of programs," Ms. Jackson countered.
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