WHAT DOES THE GOVERNOR’S WIFE THINK? SACRAMENTO IS DIVIDED ON HOW TO MOVE FORWARD ON NEW GREEN ENERGY INITIATIVES

October 9, 2009 on 12:38 am | In Green Building, Green Cities, Green Houses, Greenhouse Gas, Solar, Solutions, Trends, U.S. Government, Uncategorized, all, the bright side |

WHAT DOES THE GOVERNOR’S WIFE THINK? SACRAMENTO IS DIVIDED ON HOW TO MOVE FORWARD ON NEW GREEN ENERGY INITIATIVES

By Jodi Summers

The Governor and the Sacramento Democrats are divided in how to move forward and meet the state’s newly targeted energy goals. The Democratics wants the green power and the green jobs to come from within the state. The Governator just wants it done. As state 1st Lady Maria Shriver is a Democrat by birth married to a Republican, and a savvy politica in her own right – balance may lie with her opinion on the issue…would California’s First Lady offer her opinion please.

The recent update to AB 32, California’s landmark 2006 global warming initiative, says California electric utilities must get 33% of their power from renewable sources by 2020.

“With this action, we will ensure that California remains the pioneer in clean energy and clean jobs,” the Governor proudly declared.

The governor’s Executive Order S-21-09 came three days after Democratic lawmakers passed legislation Senate Bill 14 and Assembly Bill 64mandating the same goal, but in a way Schwarzenegger’s office said was too restrictive. The governor said he will veto the Democratic bills because they would limit how much wind, solar and geothermal energy utilities could import from other states.

The two sides did not disagree about the need or the practicality of setting an ambitious 33% renewable energy target. The conflict is over how California should reach the goal and the cost of making it happen.

The Democratic bills were backed by some but not all of the state’s utilities. The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, Pacific Gas & Electric Co. and Sempra Energy supported the bills, while Southern California Edison Co. and the Sacramento Municipal Utility District asked the governor for vetoes. The bills also drew support from labor unions and consumer advocates and opposition from manufacturers and independent energy-generating companies.

A recent study by the California Public Utilities Commission observed that said 11 new transmission lines and additional infrastructure would be needed to meet the 33 percent goal. Transmission lines typically cross several communities a well as federal land, so the permitting and siting process is very involved, bureaucratic - and time consuming. SC+E noted that each line can take about 10 years to build, and the total cost to electricity customers would be $115 billion.

Critics of the governor’s mandate argue that California will end up subsidizing green jobs in other states and Canada.

Our first lady, Maria Shriver Schwarzenegger, a former newscaster, had Democratic roots that run deep. Maria is a member of Kennedy family through her mother, Eunice Kennedy Shriver, the sister of President John Kennedy and Senator Ted Kennedy. Her father, Sargent Shriver, is a former ambassador and a former Democratic candidate for the U.S. Vice-Presidency. Married to a Republican governor, the two must find political peace at the dinner table. California is interested in her opinion on how the state should achieve the bold green energy stance of Executive Order S-21-09.

http://gov.ca.gov/issue/energy-environment/

http://www.sgvtribune.com/news/ci_13345618?source=rss

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-power16-2009sep16,0,3412344.story

http://www.historyguy.com/biofiles/shriver_maria.html

http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/contributor/1800320712/photo/573730

http://theenvelope.latimes.com/galleries/photo/globescl-arrivals29_iafwqnkf,0,5199746,email.photo

http://www.environmentamerica.org/uploads/ig/hp/ighpWSCwRpKVJbuUaA7LCA/DSC_0263.jpg

7 Comments »

RSS feed for comments on this post.

  1. We’ve witnessed first-hand how Maria leads by example and empowers others to be their own architects of change. Through our work with Maria on volunteerism and service, she has shown us the importance of connecting people and the power it has on our nation’s communities.

    Comment by Laysha Ward — October 10, 2009 #

  2. How to Mix Politics Like Maria Shriver

    Maria Shriver comes from the well-known Democratic Kennedy family, and she is the wife of Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Shriver has an amazing ability to balance her life as a wife, mother, writer and a Democrat carrying the responsibilities of First Lady to a Republican Governor. See if you have what it takes to mix politics like Maria Shriver.

    Take the quiz @ http://www.ehow.com/how_2251435_mix-politics-like-maria-shriver.html

    Comment by eHow — October 12, 2009 #

  3. After photos caught California First Lady, Maria Shriver talking on her cell phone while driving, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger said he would “take swift action,” but skirted on exactly how.

    Comment by KTLA News — October 16, 2009 #

  4. The Earth Advantage Institute reported that design professionals should watch for the following green trends in 2010: (1) homes connected to the smart grid, (2) energy labeling for homes and buildings; (3) BIM software advances, (4) financial community buy-in to green building; (5) “rightsizing” of homes; (6) eco-districts; (7) water conservation; (8) carbon calculations; (9) net zero buildings; and (10) sustainable building education.

    Comment by Earth Advantage Institute — February 5, 2010 #

  5. AB 32 AUTHOR DEFENDS CLIMATE CHANGE LAW

    Senator Fran Pavley (D-Santa Monica) one of the original and strongest proponents of California Climate Change laws has penned an article responding to recent criticisms of the law. In an effort to make sure our members understand both side of the argument, here is a piece by the author.

    “When AB 32, California’s landmark global warming law, was being debated in the legislature, a coalition of polluters and their misguided allies opposed the bill. This week these same opponents, who have also fought against clean air and water quality laws, are unveiling an initiative to suspend AB 32, predicting the sky will fall if the law is implemented. They predict that thousands of Californians would lose their jobs, and it will crush small businesses. There are even blaming the current loss of jobs on AB 32, but new emission reductions don’t even begin until 2012, and then are gradually phased in by 2020.”

    Comment by Senator Fran Pavley (D-Santa Monica) — February 5, 2010 #

  6. Assemblymember Nancy Skinner (D-14), Chair, Committee on Natural Resources, working in partnership with California Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr., has introduced AB 2514 (available here) – new legislation that will create a smarter, cleaner electric grid, increase the use of renewable energy, provide Californians with significant savings by avoiding costly new power plants and transmission lines, and reduce air pollution. This transformative legislation will also create thousands of permanent new green-collar jobs.

    AB 2514 will achieve these benefits by closing the gap between the United States and other nations in investments and deployments of energy storage, a booming “green” industry that represents a significant economic development opportunity for California.

    By mandating that utilities incorporate energy storage capacity – 2.25% of daytime peak demand for power by 2014 and 5% of peak demand by 2020 – the bill will provide much-needed lower electricity costs to consumers. Greater use of energy storage will provide the State with a cleaner and less costly alternative to the high costs of generating and supplying primarily fossil fuel-based power for only part-time daytime peak demand for power.

    “Energy storage is the future — it’s a fast-growing clean technology industry that will save the state money and reduce pollution,” said Attorney General Jerry Brown, the bill’s sponsor. “What’s even better is that this new technology could create 8,500 new jobs in California during the next decade.”

    Comment by PR Newswire — March 1, 2010 #

  7. Kyocera Begins Manufacturing Solar Modules in California
    The new solar manufacturing line has an initial production target of 30 megawatts per year.

    Kyocera announced on June 3 that it has begun manufacturing solar modules in San Diego, Calif., to serve the U.S. market’s growing demand for clean, sustainable solar electric generating systems.

    The U.S. module production line will support a new milestone for Kyocera’s solar energy business — global production volume targeting 1,000 megawatts (one “gigawatt”) of solar cells per year by March 2013.

    Comment by Industry Week — June 14, 2010 #

Leave a comment

XHTML: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>

Powered by Ground Zero with WordPress