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Californians Reject Suspension of Environmental Law (Update1)
2010-11-03 07:37:36.227 GMT
(Updates results in second paragraph. See {ELECT <GO>} for
more national election news, {EXT4 <GO>} for state and local
coverage.)
By Mark Chediak and Simon Lomax
Nov. 3 (Bloomberg) -- California voters rejected a ballot
measure backed by oil refiners that would have suspended the
state's global-warming law signed by Governor Arnold
Schwarzenegger.
Proposition 23 was losing 60 percent to 40 percent, with 58
percent of the precincts counted, according to the Associated
Press.
"In the midst of an economic downturn, and with a barrage
of fear mongering and scare tactics, voters still said they want
a clean-energy future," Tom Steyer, founder of San Francisco-
based hedge fund Farallon Capital Management LLC and co-chairman
of the "No on 23" campaign, said in a statement.
The vote clears the way for a state law restricting
greenhouse-gas emissions to go into effect in 2012. The law
requires the state to cut emissions to 1990 levels by 2020. It
will create a market for carbon dioxide pollution permits and
require utilities to get almost a third of their electricity
from renewable sources such as solar panels.
Supporters of the law say it will spur investment in non-
traditional energy production from sources such as fuel cells,
algae, the sun and wind, create jobs in the renewable energy
sector and contribute to cleaner air.
Voter approval of Proposition 23 would have suspended the
law until California's unemployment rate fell to 5.5 percent or
lower for at least a year. The rate in the most populous U.S.
state was 12.4 percent in September, third-highest after Nevada
and Michigan.
Global Warming Concerns
A rejection of the initiative "gives encouragement to
those who say the public is concerned about global warming and
jobs are secondary," Robert Stern, president of the Center for
Governmental Studies in Los Angeles, said in an interview before
yesterday's vote. "This sends a signal, but because it is
California and is considered a liberal state, it's not that big
of a signal."
Opponents including clean-energy investors and
environmental groups raised more than $30 million to sway voters
with radio, television and print advertising. They said the
measure would undermine the nation's largest solar market and
threaten $9 billion in venture-capital investments in the
state's fledgling clean-energy industry.
Its passage might have triggered a backlash against
government support for alternative-energy sources across the
rest of the U.S., Jim Watson, the managing general partner of
San Francisco-based CMEA Capital, who serves on the executive
committee of the "No on 23" campaign, said in an interview
before the election.
Diverse Opponents
Microsoft Corp. founder Bill Gates, Google co-founder
Sergey Brin and James Cameron, director of the world's top-
grossing film "Avatar," donated to the campaign against the
measure, which was co-chaired by Steyer and former U.S.
Secretary of State George Shultz.
Tesoro Corp., Valero Energy Corp. and Flint Hills Resources
LLC, a refining subsidiary of Wichita, Kansas-based Koch
Industries Inc., raised more than two-thirds of the more than
$10 million that financed support of the proposition.
Backers said the measure was needed to prevent job losses
and would have given California's economy time to recover so
that it can better absorb the cost of climate regulations.
For Related News and Information:
Top environment stories: GREEN <GO>
Stories about U.S. and climate: TNI US CLIMATE <GO>
Global emissions data: EMIS <GO>
News about California and politics: TNI CA POL <GO>
--Editors: Charles Siler, Susan Warren
To contact the reporters on this story:
Mark Chediak in San Francisco at +1-415-617-7233 or
mchediak@bloomberg.net;
Simon Lomax in Washington at +1-202-654-4305 or
slomax@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Susan Warren at +1-214-954-9455 or susanwarren@bloomberg.net.
