Kawamura to speak at AB 32 conference

The University of California-Davis says state Agriculture Secretary A.G. Kawamura will be the lunch speaker at a Monday conference on AB 32, California's 2006 greenhouse gas law.

With polling showing voters divided on Prop 23, it remains a strong possibility that AB 32 will remain in place. That means prices for farm inputs could rise, as capped industries pass on the costs of complying with new rules.

It also means a state cap-and-trade system could arrive by 2012, even if California goes it alone — Congress has pulled back from a similar national effort, and other western states are looking shaky on the issue.

Under cap-and-trade, some producers could sell carbon offsets to help compensate for costs. But the offset opportunities for specialty-crop growers remain limited.

The conference is being staged in downtown Sacramento by UC's Giannini Foundation, which focuses on farm economics, and the UC Agricultural Issues Center.