California pledged to reduce carbon emissions with AB 32, but the devil is in the details.

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The Economic and Technology Advancement Advisory Committee is one of three committees appointed by lawmakers to advise CARB on how to proceed with AB 32. Lately, green, renewable and self-sustaining entrepreneurs like Gillis inundate committee meetings with possibilities, including algal biodiesel and offshore windmills.

Cynthia Cory, environmental director of the California Farm Bureau, straddles both worlds. She’s a member of the committee and the Farm Bureau, known for its resistance to the bill. Cory says her job is to get farmers, many of them skeptical about global warming, to refocus. “I tell them, ‘I don’t care if you believe in it or not because we have a state policy,’” she says, “and we need to figure out how we can be positive players in this.”