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Increase Clean Energy for California
More renewable energy means cleaner air and a boost to the economy
Update: Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed AB 64 and SB 14 on October 11th.
California is underutilizing its vast wealth of sources of renewable energy like solar, wind, and geothermal. In the meantime, we continue to rely on dirty, fossil fuel-based energy which contributes to global warming. California needs to increase its use of clean, renewable sources of electricity. One essential tool to enable this is increasing the state’s renewable electricity use to 33% by 2020.
The current renewable energy mandate, known as the Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS), requires regulated electric utilities to increase their use of renewable electricity sources by at least one percent per year, reaching at least 20% by 2010. Two bills would raise the RPS to at least 33% by 2020: Assembly Bill (AB) 64 (Krekorian, Bass, and Blakeslee) and Senate Bill (SB) 14 (Simitian). Through different routes, these bills can reduce global warming pollution from fossil-fueled power plants and promote air quality benefits in California.
A 33% renewable electricity standard will provide environmental and economic benefits such as:
- Displacing nearly 13 million metric tons of global warming emissions in 2020—equivalent to removing almost three million cars from the road, or enough to avoid 10 to 15 new large fossil fuel power plants;
- Stimulating clean technology investment and innovation and growing the “green collar jobs” economy by sending a clear market signal that new renewables will be developed in our state;
- Diversifying the state’s energy supply and protecting consumers from natural gas price volatility;
- Helping meet our global warming pollution cap under the 2006 Global Warming Law (AB 32);
- Promoting long-term planning in the infrastructure needed to support high levels of renewable energy development; and
- Improving air quality in impacted communities by reducing future fossil fuel generation.
A clear and enforceable 33% RPS for all utilities would help expand California’s renewable energy market and its clean tech industry. California clean tech companies received $1.8 billion in venture capital investments in 2007—almost half of total clean tech investments in the U.S. By 2020, a 33% RPS will result in 13,000 megawatts of new renewable power—enough to meet the electricity needs of 6 million typical homes. Action is needed now to make sure the opportunity doesn’t pass us by.
Update:
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed AB 64 and SB 14.
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