Proposition 23

An ongoing series about California’s Proposition 23

California Ballot Proposition 23 will overturn California’s AB 32, The Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006. Specifically, Prop 23 will freeze AB 32’s provisions until California’s unemployment rate stays at 5.5% or below for four consecutive quarters; opponents point to its funding by out-of-state interests and energy companies, and say AB 32 will benefit California in the long run because of the new companies that will invest in the state, creating high paying jobs.

During the next several weeks, we will run guest postings from leaders in industry, government, academia, non-profits, and the investment community. We look forward to a hosting a conversation full of vigor on Prop 23, and will bring up several points of view on a very important and contentious initiative that could set the tone for the future of clean energy beyond California’s borders. EOS Climate is sponsoring the series.

If you are a stakeholder in this debate, and are interested in contributing a guest post, we would like to hear from you. Please send an email to Leon Kaye with a brief explanation of your take on Proposition 23 and how it could affect your organization or community. We look forward to hearing your point of view.



Californians Reject One Anti-Environment Initiative But Vote For Another

Two propositions appeared on the ballot which could gut California’s Global Warming Solutions Act or AB 32. Proposition 23 would have suspended AB 32 until the unemployment rate stayed at 5.5 percent for one year. Fortunately, 61.4 percent of Californians voted against Proposition 23. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger said of Proposition 23’s defeat, “This was a [...]

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Prop 23: The Whole World Watches as Narrow Interests and the Planet Collide in California

With the election of 2010 imminent, all eyes that are looking hopefully in the direction of a sustainable future are turned towards California, where two key propositions are providing the opportunity for Golden State voters to show, once again that when it comes to protecting the environment, California is the conscience of the country, if [...]

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Hip Hop Artists Tell Oil Corporations: Don’t Kill California’s Clean Energy Future

Artists from across California urge voters to reject Proposition 23 and 26 By C. C. Song, The Greenlining Institute The artists at Beatrock Music didn’t become musicians only because they love music—they also believe in hip hop’s power to inspire and motivate young people and people in their own communities. That’s why they all came [...]

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Green Jobs or Asthma? San Diego CEOs Organize to Defeat Prop 23

Passage of this proposition would effectively repeal the landmark Clean Energy Law, AB32. In anticipation of AB32 being implemented, the group has seen a boom of clean energy technology businesses that has created more than 500,000 new jobs and $9.1 billion in private equity investments to our state. In fact, clean technology jobs are growing at a rate 10 times the average of other industries.

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Proposition 23’s Eclectic Opposition Versus Its Oily Supporters

California ballot initiative Proposition 23 is pitting out-of-state fossil fuel companies against a plethora of people who oppose it, including Bill Gates and Google Inc. co-founder Sergey Brin. Both Gates and Brin have recently contributed to the anti-Proposition 23 campaign. Add President Obama to the list of those opposed to the proposition. “The president is [...]

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Green For All Launches the Green Jobs Bus in Advance of Prop 23 Initiative

Green For All, a national organization based in California, devoted to the development and expansion of the green economy, has launched a late October campaign to raise awareness of green jobs. The timing is critical because of the potential impact on the green economy if Proposition 23 should pass.

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Prop 23 Morphing Into Prop 26: Both Clean Economy Killers

By Jay Kimball, founder of 8020 Vision Support for Prop 23 is waning. That’s good news, but the fight is not over. If you didn’t like Prop 23, you’re really not going to like Prop 26. Out of state big oil was backing Prop 23, and seeing that as a lost cause, they are shifting [...]

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Would Texas Play Dirty in World Series? (San Francisco vs Texas as Prop 23 Metaphor)

With eager anticipation and just a week to go before the World Series begins, we sit on the edge of our seats watching the buildup.  The potential for an epic battle of Texas versus San Francisco and California is huge. With all their shared history of national political influence, and of course, stereotypical cultural differences, [...]

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Brown Slams Whitman on AB32

During the final debate between California gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman and Jerry Brown last week, Whitman said she would suspend the implementation of AB 32 or the Global Warming Solutions Act for a year, but she opposes Proposition 23. Citing a study that has been debunked, Whitman stated that “only three percent of our jobs [...]

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Investors Nervous About Proposition 23

This week 68 investors who collectively manage $415 trillion in assets issued a statement urging voters to reject Proposition 23. The signers of the statement include Catholic Health Care West and VantagePoint Venture Partners, both California-based firms. In total 18 California-based firms signed the statement.

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To Say California’s AB32 Kills Jobs Is ‘Bunk!’

Ed Note: We’re reposting Bill Roth’s earlier interview with Marin Energy Anuthority Chair Charles McGlashan because of it’s relevance to the ongling ballot initiative Proposition 23. It was originally posted August 4th. AB32 is California’s pioneering legislation signed by the governor in 2006 that caps greenhouse gas emissions by 2020. I am proud to have [...]

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Clean Tech Industry Leader to Californians: Walk the Walk and Oppose Proposition 23

AB 32 maintains the market certainty needed for investment, research and development of inventions as well as jobs. Since its passage, clean tech venture capital in California has skyrocketed, with investments of more than $6.5 billion. As the economy slowed between 2007 and 2008, total employment fell by 1 percent, but clean tech jobs continued to grow 5 percent. That’s something we need to reinforce, not cut back.

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Prop 23: A Bad Deal for California’s Farmers

By Matthew Green, Outreach and Media Coordinator, California Climate and Agriculture Network With three weeks to Election Day, one of the most widely watched initiatives on the ballot is Proposition 23, which pits oil company interests against the possibility of a clean, green energy future for California. By now you probably know that most of [...]

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Applied Materials CEO Urges NO on Prop 23

By Mike Splinter, CEO, Applied Materials One of the most hotly contested items on this year’s California ballot is Proposition 23, an initiative aimed at suspending the State’s landmark AB 32 law (the Global Warming Solutions Act). Prop 23 is being touted as a “jobs initiative,” but the real thrust of the proposition is to [...]

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The Real Face of Proposition 23

In the backyard of the Tesoro and Valero refineries in Wilmington, California lives a thriving community that has been fighting back against the oil giants for years. Because of Proposition 23, attention has finally been brought to local residents who wake up to see the refineries’ smoke day after day.

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AB32 and Proposition 23: Cultural Mores Are What Matter

AB32 puts legal mandates on businesses in the State of California to lower green house gas emissions by the year 2020.  Proposition 23 attempts to stall or even halt the implementation of AB32. With the attempts to hinder AB32, can AB32 truly be enforceable?  If the law is unenforceable, what can be done to lower [...]

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Alt Opinion: Passing Prop 23 Essential for California’s Economic Future

Editor’s Note: We have been running posts about California’s Prop 23 for the last 2 weeks and have been approached by some folks who believe differently than we do. In the interest of open dialogue today we are offering another point of view on Proposition 23, this one from former White House energy advisor Jack Rafuse. [...]

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Latest Yes on Prop 23 TV Ad Loaded with Distortions

Just twenty-two days remain until the mid-term elections, which means in three weeks, we will no longer see those nasty advertisements that brilliantly show politicians in the most unflattering light.  Attack ads show Jerry Brown from 30 years ago, which make him look 30 years older than he is now; Meg Whitman with jowls that [...]

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A Small Green Business Take on Prop 23

Jaime Nack explains that although some may consider the Proposition 23 vote a debate over the issues, it seems instead to be a stakeholder battle funded by corporate interests. Let’s first consider the fact that the majority of the support for Prop. 23 (and the opposition to AB 32) comes from out-of-state gas and oil companies. Pouring millions into campaigns promoting Prop. 23, companies like Tesoro and Flint Hill Resources are simply looking to protect future profits. They claim that clean fuel legislation has a negative effect on California’s economy and a major instigator of un-employment. Simply, not so.

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Schwarzenegger Marks Four Years of AB 32, Touts Clean Tech

It is not easy being Arnold Schwarzenegger these days.  His administration is winding down with his approval ratings in the teens. Democrats barely tolerate him, and fair or not, Californians’ tie him to the state’s problems. But the Governator is hardly leaving office meekly.  He recently toured California, touting the fourth anniversary of AB 32’s [...]

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Prop 23 Would Kill Advanced Biofuel Technology

Across California, companies have been investing and preparing for the cleantech boom created by AB 32, but Prop 23 would stall this growth indefinitely. Bob Epstein, California entrepreneur and board of trustees member of Natural Resources Defense Council recently spoke of the 500,000 green jobs and billions of dollars in investment that are at jeopardy.

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Proposition 23 Will Cost Californians Billions

California’s Proposition 23 is financed by out-of-state companies, including two Texas oil companies (Valero Energy Corp. and Tesoro Corp.). A post last week by the Huffington Post says California voters “would be justified defeating Proposition 23 just to send a message to outside agitators to mind their own damn business.” The post also points out [...]

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California’s Prop 23 Would Put the Brakes on Clean Energy

By William A. Sundstrom With the state’s unemployment rate stuck at around 12 percent, many Californians are suffering and desperate for a paycheck. Exploiting their pain, two Texas oil companies, a pair of out-of-state billionaires, and other backers of Proposition 23 hope to convince voters to effectively repeal California’s landmark clean energy law in the [...]

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Prop 23 Would Increase Vulnerability to Fossil Fuel Price Shocks

By Chris Busch Proposition 23 is the California ballot initiative that would suspend implementation of the state’s landmark clean energy and climate law, Assembly Bill 32 (AB 32).  One of the many reasons to vote against Proposition 23 is that it would increase the vulnerability of the California economy to crude oil and gasoline price [...]

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How California’s Proposition 23 Will Affect the Solar Industry

It is fitting that the Golden State produces the most solar energy in the U.S. Solar power is expected to grow even more in California. The California Energy Commission (CEC) recently approved four major solar power projects, and is expected to approve two more projects this week. The solar power projects approved and pending approval [...]

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Minorities Fight Back Against Prop. 23

By Orson Aguilar They’re at it again:  Once more, special interests are trying to hijack California’s state ballot to enrich themselves at the expense of our communities. The Latino, African-American and Asian communities that make up California’s new majority are most at risk, and we’re not taking this lying down. San Antonio-based Valero Energy and [...]

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Win or Lose, Have a Post November Plan Ready

The climate around Proposition 23 (Prop 23) is heating up.  Supporters are touting its passage as supporting job creation in California.  The opposition suggests that Prop 23  is a play to continue dirty energy.  Urgency amongst sustainability folk is to ensure Prop 23 does not pass.  However, regardless if Prop 23 passes or fails, as [...]

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Edward James Olmos Slams Prop 23 In NRDC Ad

An anti-Proposition 23 ad by Edward James Olmos’ for the National Resources Defense Counsel (NRDC) appeared on YouTube in July in English and Spanish. Olmos said in the ad, “Don’t let polluters from Texas tell us how to live.” Considering Olmos is a household name, the ad is a great campaign tactic.

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Why Green Business is Good Business: The Case Against Prop 23

By Andy Mannle, Education Director, West Coast Green As we prepare for West Coast Green 2010, which kicks off Thursday September 30th in San Francisco, we are in constant contact with speakers from across the business spectrum, and they’re increasingly talking about Prop 23.  We deal with everyone from small design firms to global technology [...]

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Van Jones Comes Out Kicking Against Controversial California Ballot Proposition

Enter another high profile person lending his voice to speak in opposition to Proposition 23 which would overturn California’s 2006 Global Warming Solutions Act. Van Jones, in a September 9 co-written blog post for ThinkProgress, said of the Act that it “sent a clear message to investors and businesses that clean energy will be the [...]

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