Don’t worry, we at CLCV haven’t lost our minds, or radically altered our mission of electing champions for California’s environment. We’re NOT, we repeat, NOT asking you to vote for Fiorina for U.S. Senate — we’ve endorsed environmental champion Senator Barbara Boxer in that race! Rather, we’d like you to cast your vote to add Fiorina in the national League of Conservation Voters’ “Dirty Dozen” so we can more effectively defeat her Senate bid. We promise, it’s the only time we’ll ask you to vote for Carly Fiorina.
We’ve seen this before: Someone takes a step into big time politics and upon crossing that imaginary threshold, throws out their previously held values and beliefs. In particular, Republican candidates running for statewide office in California have been notorious for their contradictions, especially when it comes to positions on environmental issues.
Nearly everyone in the room, from the panelists to the moderator to the audience members, was in agreement: Texas oil companies should stop messing with California’s economy and environment.
This message was echoed by event panelists including venture capitalist and clean-tech investor Vinod Khosla, Google Green Energy Czar Bill Weihl, California Air Resources Board Chairwoman Mary Nichols, and Senior Vice President of PG&E Tom Bottorff.
After refusing on multiple occasions to take a position on the Dirty Energy Proposition, the November ballot measure that would repeal the state’s climate law, gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman conceded on a recent radio broadcast that “in all likelihood I will vote no on Prop 23.” But let’s be clear: Whitman stands by her initial call for a year-long moratorium on AB 32, the landmark climate law that is driving billions of dollars of investment in clean technology in California. In fact, she pointed out that the governor has the power to suspend the law for up to three years.
Texas oil companies and other supporters of Proposition 23 (the Dirty Energy Proposition) are celebrating the decision by a judge to order Attorney General Jerry Brown’s office to modify the language describing their proposition. Supporters of Prop 23, which would roll back the state’s climate law AB 32, had sued Brown, claiming the language, particularly the words “major polluters,” would bias voters who went to the polls in November. The decision comes with just days to spare before the copy for voter information guides is submitted to the state printer.
Last week was a big one for our campaign to elect an environmental champion as governor of California. We marked the 100 day countdown to the November 2 election, when Californians will elect a new governor, replacing termed-out governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Days later, the Public Policy Institute of California released a major poll on Californians’ environmental views, which showed strong support for the state’s climate law and powerful opposition to offshore oil drilling. It also revealed how environmental voters feel about the leading candidates for governor.
Dear Lieutenant Governor Maldonado: We noticed with great interest that you have announced a trip to Louisiana to tour the disastrous BP oil spill that has devastated the communities and local economies of the Gulf Coast. The California League of Conservation Voters remains deeply concerned about the oil spill and its aftermath. We are determined to elect environmental champions who will ensure that this tragedy is never repeated off the coast of California. We have a simple request: That you clarify your positions on several environmental issues important to California voters, and explain your record of support for the agenda of Big Oil.
