San Francisco (Platts)--9May2007

A bill that would centralize state research on climate change and its
impacts on California cleared the Energy, Utilities and Communications
Committee of the state Senate on Tuesday.

     The measure drafted by California Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata
would establish a program administered by the California Resources Agency to
coordinate state spending on climate-related research and development. The
bill, SB 660, also would create the Strategic Research Investment Council to
set research priorities for climate-related activities.

     "We know California faces big challenges if our climate continues to warm
as predicted. The state's first step should be to study what is happening, how
it is affecting us and what we can do. This bill coordinates research already
being done in various state agencies and brings together a team of experts to
oversee it and make sure we are broadly and wisely examining the problem,"
Perata said in a statement.

     The bill will be reviewed next by the Senate Appropriations Committee.