Voters Surveyed Given Misleading Description, No Facts About Costs and Jobs Impacts 

SACRAMENTO – Proponents of Proposition 23 today dismissed as irrelevant results of a newly-released Field Poll that inaccurately, purported to show the November ballot measure trailing among voters.

“The only thing this so-called ‘poll’ illustrates is that the majority of voters have not heard about Prop. 23, and that when you ask a misleading question you’ll get a misleading answer, “ said John Kabateck, Executive Director of the National Federation of Independent Business/California, a co-chair of the Prop. 23 campaign.

Voters were asked only two questions during the survey. The first indicated most voters were unfamiliar with the measure. The second inaccurately characterized the initiative as requiring the state to “abandon” its greenhouse gas reduction program.

“The Field Poll’s approach in this survey is disappointing,” said Kabateck. “Prop. 23 merely requires the temporary suspension of climate change regulations that would put over a million California jobs at risk and cost families and small businesses billions of dollars in higher energy costs in furtherance of a global warming law that according to the Air Resources Board will do nothing to reduce global warming.

“Prop. 23 will not ‘abandon,’ weaken, or repeal AB 32, the state’s global warming law,” continued Kabateck, “and it will not impact California’s existing air and water quality laws, which are the strictest in the nation.”

Most importantly, the survey failed to mention anything about the costs of AB 32 implementation, which are projected to run in the billions in higher electricity, natural gas, gasoline and diesel costs and to cause the loss of over a million jobs.

“The only poll that matters is the one that will go before voters on November 2^nd, “concluded Kabateck. “We’re confident that when voters have all the facts they’ll vote for jobs, affordable energy and fiscal responsibility – that means a Yes vote on Prop. 23.”