Could California style emissions caps work in Wisconsin? As a member of the California state Assembly Fran Pavley authored landmark legislation to fight global warming. Pavley said the resulting cap on carbon emissions in her state has been a spur to development of alternative technologies. "By putting in a cap, you are sending a very clear signal to the marketplace, that this will be a good place to invest in new technologies," she said.
In fact, Pavley said she was surprised that representatives of large corporations actually advocated for the caps contained in her bill, which Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed into law last year. "We have heard from businesses that you need that cap." Pavley, who is currently a candidate for the California state Senate, made a presentation on the law, which Madison Democrat Spencer Black has used a model for the recently introduced Wisconsin Safe Climate Act .