Money would be directed towards carbon emissions

by Brian Leubitz

AB 32, our landmark climate change legislation, will have some enormous impacts on the state’s economy and the government. However, there’s this:

The amounts are potentially enormous: from $1 billion to $3 billion a year in 2012 and 2013, jumping to as high as $14 billion a year by 2015, according to the nonpartisan state Legislative Analyst’s Office. By comparison, the state’s current budget deficit is $9 billion.

But like thirsty castaways on an island surrounded by ocean water they can’t drink, Gov. Jerry Brown and state legislators face strict constraints on how they can spend the money. More than 30 years of court rulings and ballot measures — dating to Proposition 13 in 1978 — limit its use, probably only to projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions.(Media News)

The state already has some spending lined up, including helping to pay for cleaner burning trucks for the ports. There is likely to be some benefit for the budget, as spending for climate change programs are shifted away from the general fund. However, unless the legislation is changed, it isn’t the solution for the deficit.

 And while some sectors declined in the overall California economy, they grew in the green economy. Manufacturing stands out. Although manufacturing has declined in the state, green manufacturing jobs increased 10% from January 2008-2009.

The report's worth reading in full, as it breaks down numbers by region, sector, and more. Plus, it features lots of colorful graphs that make the numbers easier to digest, like this one:

It's clear from this report that green jobs are growing in importance to California's economy. Thanks to California voters, the overwhelming defeat of Prop 23 will keep the Golden State on a path that leads not to economic decline, but to job growth.

Although I had received an incredibly supportive welcome from campaign organizers at the San Francisco office, I was happy to move to the simpler tasks of the grassroots campaign, for which I felt much more qualified.

I have been working primarily out of an office in San Rafael, run by two members of Green Core who recently graduated college. I spend my time phone banking, meeting with volunteers and attending rallies in the surrounding area.

San Rafael, being sunny, beautiful, and inhabited by a fair few crunchy, eco-friendly people, is of course not a bad place to be working on an environmental campaign.

Having a fear of phones that makes me avoid calls even with my closest friends, I never thought of myself as a prime candidate for phone banking. Despite my hesitation, it has become one of my favorite activities. Most people don’t pick up, and many that do are clearly not in the mood to talk. The rare person though who seems truly enthusiastic makes up for all the disappointments, and I often find myself full of adrenaline after a successful phone banking session. There is also a camaraderie with the other phone bankers, as you chat together while phones ring.

Obviously phone banking is laborious and slow, but there is a feeling of accomplishment that I found lacking in other activities, a sense of reaching real, live voters (who can otherwise seem almost like mythical creatures, as you discuss them at length but never actually meet them).

I enjoy rallies tremendously, but from the outside of a campaign, I honestly thought they served more as moral boosters for the volunteers rather than influencing voters. My opinion was changed late one night, as I sat phone banking. After only the first few sentences of my “schpiel,” the man on the phone interrupted me, asking if this was the proposition he had seen all the people waving signs for the previous weekend. Having been at the rally he was referring to, I could tell him honestly that it was.

“That’s ok then,” he told me. “We’re voting no. We don’t support big oil. You can call someone else now.”

– Evi Steyer

Tom Steyer is co-Chair, with former Secretary of State George Shultz, of the campaign to oppose Proposition 23 in California, an initiative that would undercut California’s commitment to clean energy.

They are writing a regular father-daughter, intra-generational blog to share concerns and fears, as well as ideas and hopes about the future of California’s environment.

Governor Schwarzenegger and Meg Whitman aren’t really seen around town too often.  Whitman can’t seem to get far enough from Arnold, and with his record, who would blame her.  Yet, as Meg Whitman attempts to make California into Texas, Governor Schwarzenegger is lashing out at the terrible Texas two, Valero and Tesoro, who have been funding Prop 23’s effort to kill California’s regulation of greenhouse gas pollution.

Schwarzenegger, speaking before several hundred people at the Commonwealth Club in Santa Clara, said the proponents of Prop. 23 are attempting to subvert the democratic process using scare tactics. He likened the campaign to a shell game hiding what he said was the real purpose: “self-serving greed.”

“They are creating a shell argument that they are doing this to protect jobs,” the governor said. “Does anybody really believe they are doing this out of the goodness of their black oil hearts – spending millions and millions of dollars to save jobs?”

Schwarzenegger said AB32, which he signed into law in 2006, will create jobs by allowing California to establish a “green economy” featuring solar energy, hydrogen power, bio-energy and a renewable electricity standard that will provide “the seed money for the world’s energy revolution.”

The only job losses or costs, he said, would be in polluting industries like Valero Energy Corp. and Tesoro Corp., both of which have refineries in California that climate experts say are sources of greenhouse gas emissions.(SacBee)

The tone of Schwarzenegger’s attacks were as surprising as anything else, so it is worth watching the Olbermann clip up top to here the audio of the speech.  He puts the lie to the notion that Prop 23 is going to “save a million jobs.”

It is striking that Arnold Schwarzenegger, who has attempted to throw the state off the cliff through his shock doctrine budget techniques.  But even for him, this is a bridge too far.

The California League of Conservation Voters (CLCV, the non-partisan political arm of the environmental movement in California, today announced its endorsement of Jerry Brown for Governor of California. To watch CLCV’s endorsement video, visit http://www.ecovote.org/blog/clcv-endorses-jerry-brown-governor

“CLCV is proud to endorse Jerry Brown to become California’s next Governor,” said CLCV Chief Executive Officer Warner Chabot. “As Attorney General and as a former Governor of our great state, Jerry Brown has a stellar record of protecting the environment and public health through his leadership on and tough enforcement of our state’s environmental laws.”

“The November gubernatorial election offers clear choices for California voters,” said CLCV Board of Directors President Tom Adams. “Jerry Brown is the only candidate for governor with both an unwavering commitment to the environment, and a clear plan for California to lead the nation to a clean energy economy.”

“I am grateful to have the endorsement of the California League of Conservation Voters,” said Jerry Brown.  “Our coastline, farmland, mountains, deserts and urban environments all make up the great and unique landscape of California. I have always believed that environmental protection and California’s long-term economic prosperity go hand-in-hand and I will continue to promote both as Governor of California.”

A key difference between Brown and his Republican opponent Meg Whitman is their position on Proposition 23, the oil industry-backed repeal of California’s landmark clean energy and climate law (AB 32) on the November ballot. Brown joins business and military leaders in opposing Prop 23. He recognizes that California’s policies resulted in venture capitalists investing billions of dollars in California’s clean tech sector, and vigorously defends the climate law from attacks by out-of-state oil companies.  

In contrast, Whitman, relying on the same widely discredited studies as the oil industry, calls AB 32 a “job-killer.” While she hasn’t taken a position on Prop 23, Whitman says she would call for a year-long moratorium on the clean energy law, which would damage the one bright spot in California’s economy while bringing a halt to environmental progress.

“Jerry Brown shares the environmental and clean tech community’s vision of California becoming the national, if not the global, leader in developing clean energy, which complements his goals of improving California’s air quality, creating jobs, and fighting climate change,” said Chabot.

As Governor from 1975-1982, Brown established California as a leader in renewable energy and energy efficiency and conservation, adopted the toughest anti-smog laws in the country, expanded state parks, started the California Conservation Corps, banned the sale of dangerous chemicals, successfully fought offshore oil drilling plans, and signed into law the California Coastal Commission and Coastal Conservancy Acts, among numerous other accomplishments. Brown earned a lifetime score of 86% on CLCV’s California Environmental Scorecard for his votes on environmental legislation as Governor.

More recently as Attorney General, Brown defended California’s auto emission standards against the Bush Administration, leading to the historic agreement between the Obama Administration and the auto industry that requires cars nationwide to adopt California’s standards.  Brown joined other Attorneys General in suing the Bush Administration for failure to regulate greenhouse gas emissions under the Clean Air Act, resulting in a Supreme Court ruling that greenhouse gases are air pollutants subject to the Act.

Brown also worked with cities and counties to develop long-term growth plans to reduce pollution and traffic and halted the Bush Administration’s efforts to gut the federal Endangered Species Act, just to name a few key environmental actions as Attorney General.

Brown has proven he will be a champion for the environment, which is why CLCV urges voters to elect him governor on November 2nd.

This is the first installment of what we hope will become a regular father-daughter, intra-generational effort to share concerns and fears, as well as ideas and hopes about the future of California’s environment. – Tom

Tom Steyer:  

I was in Sacramento last week to debate Assembly Member and Prop. 23 author, Dan Logue. As part of my role as the No on Prop. 23 Co-Chair, I’m going to be publicly arguing the ‘no’ side of this measure as often as they’ll let me. I’ve been a passionate and practicing environmentalist for a long time now – and I put my money, and my time, where my mouth is.

And so I found myself in Sacramento.  

I had spent several days prepping and practicing, making sure I was on top of the information as well as Mr. Logue’s attitudes and beliefs. I’m pretty passionate about this stuff to start with – and after spending a few days really drilling down on just who’s behind Prop. 23 (billion-dollar Texas oil giants, Valero and Tesoro), what their motives are (make even more money) and what it would mean to our environment (don’t get me started), I was ready to do battle.

Turns out, Dan Logue’s a very nice gentleman from the Truckee area, a small businessman mostly concerned with the climate for small business. He clearly cared generally about the issue. But he repeatedly quoted a series of discredited analytical efforts including one from Sacramento State and another from Berkeley, the authors of which have expressly asked him to please stop misquoting their work. It seemed to me that those Texas oil companies are manipulating him as badly as the rest of us.

One of the interesting things about debating this issue in public was that I got an immediate sense of what resonates and what does not. It’s obvious that the fact this initiative is funded by Texas oil companies resonates with everyone. It’s obvious that polluters should not be able to write their own environmental laws, get them on the ballot, and get them passed. The other point that’s obvious is this is a confusing issue for most people. Even the numbers, AB 32 and Prop 23, are confusing. It was necessary to repeat frequently that the pro-environment vote is a NO on 23 vote.

I found it an emotional experience, much like playing a soccer or basketball game. But even more so because it’s so obviously not a game. I left the debate feeling pretty drained – but also even more focused. Valero and Tesoro are going to spend whatever’s necessary to undermine California’s environmental laws. And I’m going to do my damndest to stop them.

Evi Steyer:

The trip from San Francisco to Sacramento, across the bay, over the golden-brown hills, and through the fields of the Valley, put me in a very California frame of mind.  After mistakenly making my way to a local neighborhood (wine) press club and bar of the same name, I finally found my way to the Sacramento Press Club, where the debate was being hosted.  The street was lined with Yes on Prop 23 advocates and a man dressed as a chicken, a reference to Assemblyman Logue’s feint at backing out of the debate. Late due to my scenic tour of Sacramento, I hustled up the stairs and found a seat at the back of the high-ceilinged room. Two men who resembled Logue himself and seemed to be closely affiliated with him, a couple wearing matching Tea Party t-shirts, and several people wearing Yes on 23 stickers and holding signs, were seated next to me.

As an 18-year old who grew up in a house where conversations about sustainable energy were as common as the morning carpool, I’m proud of California’s environmental laws and think Prop. 23 is deceptive and really, really dangerous.

The facts prove global warming is real, so it was hard for me to react to Mr. Logue’s assertion that the matter remains inconclusive without a certain amount of skepticism. What struck me, more than the arguments presented and the studies cited, was the overall tone of the discussion. Both Mr. Logue and my Dad clearly care about California and its citizens. But Dan Logue most definitely stakes his position on what he believes to be in the best interest of California. The only problem with Mr. Logue’s position though, no matter how passionate he is and how deeply held his beliefs – he’s wrong on the facts.

I was proud of my Dad, not for his debating tactics but for the positive and hopeful stance he presented. The words “innovation” and “creativity” arose frequently in his arguments for AB 32 and against Prop 23. Listening to the debate, I felt fully engaged and excited about the green revolution and the role California will play. I felt hopeful.

Tom Steyer is a successful asset manager, entrepreneur and environmentalist. He founded and is Co-Managing Partner of the San Francisco-based firm, Farallon Capital Management and is a partner at the private equity firm Hellman & Friedman. With his wife Kat Taylor, he created and funded OneCalifornia Bank, which provides loans and banking services to underserved small businesses, communities, and individuals in California. In 2008, Steyer and Taylor made a $40 million gift to Stanford University to create a new research center as part of the Precourt Institute for Energy, the TomKat Center for Sustainable Energy.

Evi Steyer is one of Tom and Kat’s four children. She graduated from San Francisco’s University High School in 2010 and is taking a year off to volunteer on the Prop 23 campaign and travel, before starting Yale in the fall of 2011.