Californians are going to be charged an extra 25 cents per month on their electric bill for the next 10 years to help fund a new project created by the California Institute for Climate Solutions.

This is part of an ongoing effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in California, and it’s supported by governor Schwarzenegger, who hopes that this project will “bring together the state’s preeminent colleges, universities, and laboratories to fight climate change.”

Paying for Results

Even though the vote for this project was practically unanimous, there are a few people who are hesitant about charging people for it.

Commissioner John Bohn thinks that the state is forcing people to pay for research that may not even deliver results.

Executive Director of Toward Utility Rate Normalization (TURN), a ratepayer consumer group, says that consumers are already paying for alternative energy programs, and forcing them to pay again for something that might not work is going too far.

Despite opposition, this is the only way that the California Institute for Climate Solutions will get half of the money that they need to fund the project. Another $600 million will need to be matched from other sponsors.

You can read the entire article here.

It’s interesting that even though California has the strictest greenhouse gas emissions standards for vehicles in all of the U.S., their citizens still need to pay for additional reduction measures.

This new measure proves once again that the fight against global warming is going to be a long, extensive and expensive one.