MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS AT A GLANCE

*AB 32 Under Attack; Small Business Community Responds.

*New Studies on Cap and Trade Benefits from Next 10.
*California Agriculture Experts Weigh into Climate Debate.

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*CMTA Continues to Cry Wolf. Alliance Director Susan Frank forcefully responds to false assertions by the California Manufacturers & Technology Association (CMTA) and sets the record straight on the benefits of cap and trade.

*Fighting Greenhouse Gases: California's Clean Energy Standards Really Are Pro-Business. Bruce Klafter, Applied Materials, says in the Mercury News that "blocking progress is easier than creating it. Yet in trying to stop California's pioneering clean energy standards, opponents are fighting a battle they cannot win."

*Real Small Businesses Support Clean Energy, Curbing Greenhouse Gases. According to Alliance member Tom Bowman, Bowman Design Group, small businesses "strongly support AB32 and a host of other measures that are reducing pollution, making us the nation's most energy-efficient economy..."

*Supporting Clean Energy Policies. Alliance member Warren Smith with Clean World Partners argues in Capitol Weekly: "The demise of small businesses due to AB 32 has been greatly exaggerated. I should know - I founded a small business and clean energy laws like AB 32 are a big part of the reason we are still here."

*Lessons for California on Cap and Trade from the Northeast. Paul Hibbard of The Analysis Group says California can learn from the country's first carbon trading market, which is working in the Northeast.

*Californians Keep Showing That They Get It. Alliance Director Susan Frank says that "California's clean energy policies have saved billions of dollars over the last three decades, and there's more where that came from" in an op-ed in Point Carbon.

*Cap and Trade to Generate Billions, Tough Choices. The San Francisco Chronicle highlights findings of a series of studies released on May 17 by Next 10, which delve into the legal and economic implications of cap and trade and show significant benefits.

*Work with State Farmers, Not Against Them. Alliance member Renata Brillinger of the California Climate and Agriculture Network (CalCAN) co-authored an op-ed in the Fresno Bee detailing the threats climate change poses to agriculture and calling for reducing agriculture-related carbon emissions.

*Reader Rebuttal: Alternative-Fuel Cars. Marine Corps Veteran Rick Reyes disputes Assemblyman Jose Solorio's criticism of California's Clean Fuels Outlet program. He says, "This policy is giving Californians - and today's fuel providers - the opportunity to be part of the solution to our oil dependence. America's over-reliance on oil hobbles our foreign policy... As a veteran, I take this personally."

*Cap and Trade Will Encourage Move to Clean Energy. Mike Mielke with Alliance member Silicon Valley Leadership Group published an op-ed in The San Francisco Chronicle saying that "it is discouraging to see our state's landmark law on climate and clean energy... under attack again. The investment and innovation unleashed by AB 32 is creating jobs and is spurring transformation of our buildings, vehicles, lighting and energy generation systems..."

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Diverting all of the food waste from landfills to anaerobic digesters would power 600,000 homes and have the same environmental benefits as removing 8 million cars from the road or planting 9 million acres of pine forest. 

Clean World Partners (CWP), a three year old Sacramento startup company, partners with businesses and communities to convert organic waste to renewable energy, soil enhancement products, and other valuable byproducts using proprietary technologies that are scalable, cost-efficient, and effective.

CWP is about to debut what it's calling the nation's most efficient commercial system in the country for converting food waste into energy. Learn more in a recent Sacramento Bee feature.

Last month, CWP began operating its first system at the North Natomas plant of American River Packaging. Another CWP system is starting up in June at Sacramento County's south area transfer station and two more are set to open in the region by the end of the year, according Michele Wong, the company's CEO. "That's just a start," says Wong, who reports international interest in a system that's based on "anaerobic digestion" technology developed at UC Davis.