California’s independent budget watchdog, the Legislative Analyst’s Office, predicts job losses in California due to, among other things, the state’s climate change legislation, according to a report today in Reuters.

In 2006, California passed a climate change law that mandates greenhouse gas emissions cutbacks to 1990 levels by the year 2020.

The Legislative Analyst’s Office sees that law as raising energy prices, which will result in higher costs for business and, in turn, will have a near-term and long-term negative effect on jobs. The Legislative Analyst’s Office, however, does predict that the negative impact will be “modest.”

The Legislative Analyst’s Office put this report together at the request of State Senator Dave Cogdill (R-Modesto).

Further reading:

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/22/20100309/tpl-environment-us-climate-california-20b2d2f.html

http://cssrc.us/web/14/pubs/100308_AB32JobsImpact.pdf

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Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/heypaul/103653062/

KJC