By Chris Pocock, Staff Columnist

Proposition 23 is an attempt by lawmakers to reform California’s existing legislation toward global warming.

California, one of the leaders in energy regulation and existing emissions laws in the nation, has seen a huge push to tackle environmental damage caused by increasing amounts of greenhouse gases released in recent years. The Global Warming Solutions Act, also known as Assembly Bill 32, was passed in 2006 as just one of the many means to combat these greenhouse gas levels.

But California has gone through a significant economic downturn since the act was signed into law. With unemployment this year now holding at a constant 12.4 percent and an economy rebounding slower than expected, supporters of Proposition 23 argue laws such as AB 32 — which puts pressure on energy companies within California to produce fewer carbon emissions — should be put on hold until the economy rebounds completely from the recession.

Proposition 23, also nicknamed the “California Jobs Initiative,” to proponents is being hailed as a “jobs” bill by its supporters, claiming AB 32 will save more than a million jobs as well as raise gasoline, diesel and electricity rates by 60 percent. But Proposition 23 also states that, in order for AB 32 to resume again, unemployment rates in California must dip below 5.5 percent — an event that has only briefly occurred three times in the past 40 years.

Critics of Proposition 23 note that the funding behind the proposition, specifically nearly $8.2 million contributed by Valero Energy Corporation, Tesoro Corporation and Koch Industries Inc., as a roundabout method of protecting the interests of large oil companies. Greentech groups such as Tesla Motors and Solaris have backed the movement against Proposition 23, raising more than $1.8 million to protect AB 32 from being put on the back burner. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is also in opposition to the proposition, calling the campaign “a corruption of the democratic process.”

But while some corporations have made their stands on the proposition, the deciding factor lies with the most influential group in the political spectrum — the voters.

According to a recent poll taken by the Los Angeles Times, voters in California have thus far been fairly divided about the issue. The poll stated 40 percent of voters were in support of the proposition being passed with 38 percent opposed, with the rest undecided.