As reported earlier here on Calitics and elsewhere, California Assemblyman Dan Logue, after his recent failed attempt to kill the major provisions of Assembly Bill 32, California Landmark Clean Air legislation by a vote in the legislature, has begun an attempt to go the initiative route to repeal most of AB32. Logue and California Congressman Tom McClintock have been identified as two of several conservative who came up with the idea to repeal AB 32. Right off the bat they wanted the initiative to be referred to as a jobs bill. That did not fly and I recall reading Logue and company were considering legal action against Jerry Brown, Attorney General, because the office made very clear it was a air pollution bill. Now it gets more interesting.
To recap, in part, when Logue was asked by the NEW YORK TIMES who was funding the initiative, Logue refused to identify where the funding for the initiative was coming from. Shortly after the report was published, records were discovered by the press that indicated the financial sponsors of Logue’s initiative, all two of them, were Valero Energy Corp. and Tesoro Corp, neither of them headquartered in California.
Suddenly, almost before you could “catch your breath” the CBS affiliate in Sacramento, Channel 13, aired a news story of protesters of Logue’s initiative gathered at a local VELARO gas station to protest the funding.
The news story can be found here: http://www.youtube.com/NoOnValero
About the same time, NOONVALERO.COM, by Californians for Clean Energy and Jobs, sponsored by environmental organizations and business, was launched. It states on the home page in great big letters, in part:
Valero – a Texas-based oil company – is funding a deceptive, job-killing initiative for the November 2010 ballot that would kill California’s clean energy and air pollution law, AB 32. If passed, this initiative would destroy the fastest-growing segment of our economy and put at risk billions of dollars of investment in clean energy companies and small businesses that are creating thousands of jobs throughout California.
A fact sheet, available on the web site, in addition to a place to sign up to volunteer to defeat Logue and Valero indicates:
Valero Oil Company’s Initiative Would Kill Clean Energy & Air Pollution Standards in California
Californians for Clean Energy and Jobs: FACT SHEET Last updated 3/5/10
Passed in 2006, AB 32 is a California law that establishes clean energy and air pollution control standards.
These standards stimulate job creation and investments in clean technology, and reduce our dependence on
foreign oil. Despite the law’s benefits and popularity, it is under attack by Valero’s Initiative.Valero’s Initiative Would Create More Air Pollution in California
• The Texas-based oil company Valero Energy Corp. is funding a deceptive initiative for the November
2010 ballot designed to kill California’s leading clean energy and air pollution control standards.
• The company claims its measure simply “suspends AB 32,” but in fact their initiative would halt the
implementation of clean energy and pollution standards until California’s unemployment level drops
below 5.5 percent for an entire year – a market condition that has occurred just three times in the last
30 years!
• Valero wants us to return to the dirty energy economy that pollutes our environment, jeopardizes our
health and puts us at a global competitive disadvantage in the trillion dollar field of clean energy.
• Valero is joined in its efforts on the initiative by another Texas oil company, Tesoro. Both companies are
among the biggest polluters in California.
o Valero was named one of the worst polluters in the U.S. (Source: The Political Economy
Research Institute, University of Massachusetts, http://www.peri.umass.edu/Toxi…
Table.265.0.html). The company was hit with $711 million in fines by the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency in 2005.Valero’s Initiative Would Kill Thousands of Jobs and Billions of Dollars of Investments in California’s Economy
• According to the non-partisan, independent Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO), the suspension of AB 32
could: “delay investments in energy technologies reaping longer-run savings, or dampen additional
investments in clean energy technologies or in so-called ‘green jobs’ by private firms, thereby resulting
in less economic activity than would otherwise be the case.”
o If Valero’s initiative passes, California could lose more than $80 billion in gross state product
(GSP) and face the loss of hundreds of thousands of jobs by 2020.
o California green jobs are growing 10 times faster than the statewide average.
o Between 1990 and 2006, green technology businesses in California grew by 84 percent.
• In 2009, while other sectors saw little or no investment, California’s clean technology sector received
$2.1 billion, 60 percent of the total in North America, and more than five times the investment in our
nearest competitor – Massachusetts.Valero’s Initiative Would Increase Dependence on Foreign Oil
• By eliminating clean energy and air pollution standards, Valero’s initiative would result in greater use of
foreign oil in California.
• In 2009, Americans spent $265 billion – $500,000 a minute – on foreign oil.
• According to the U.S. Department of Defense, “climate change and energy are two key issues that will
play a significant role in shaping the future security environment. Although they produce distinct types
of challenges, climate change, energy security, and economic stability are inextricably linked.”
• According to the CNA’s Military Advisory Board, “America’s heavy dependency on oil-in virtually
all sectors of society-stresses the economy, international relationships, and military operations-the
most potent instruments of national power.”
Further information available at noonvalero.com.
Both Dan Logue and Tom McClintock are both running for reelection this year.
It will be interesting to see how this plays out in both the Primary and, if need be, the General elections in 2010.