Senate bill secures California’s clean-energy future
Before it adjourns next week, one of the most important actions the California Legislature can take is to pass Senate Bill 100, legislation that would commit the state to producing 100 percent of its electrical energy from renewable sources by 2045.
Given President Trump’s announcement last week that he is abandoning the nation’s Clean Power Plan in the misguided hope of rescuing coal-fired power plants, some might interpret this action as poking a finger in the eye of the Trump administration.
In fact, the action would be visionary rather than reactionary.
Evan has spent the past few months meeting with stakeholders and has come to a clear conclusion: Here in the Silicon Valley, we — all of us — would reap the benefits of that vision. Which is why the two of us have come together in strong support of this legislation.
To be sure, tech industry leaders have been at the vanguard in the transition to clean energy. Within the last two years, for instance, Google and Salesforce have each achieved the goal of 100 percent renewable energy for their offices and data centers. But the benefits of committing California to a fully renewable energy future extend far beyond corporate board rooms.
The environmental business group E2 estimates that the state’s clean-energy policies have already generated more than $1.6 billion in investments and created more than 25,000 working-class jobs in the advanced energy economy in just the two state Senate districts that encompass the Silicon Valley.
In addition, environmental justice advocates argue — correctly and persuasively — that reducing air pollution is essential to improving public health in low-income communities that are most impacted by gas-burning power plants.
Rather than poking fingers, what California would be doing by committing to a 100 percent clean energy future is unleashing a surge of innovation and investment, creating hundreds of thousands of jobs, improving our health, and taking an important step toward meeting the carbon emissions reductions needed to meet our commitment to fighting climate change.
After another summer of record-breaking wildfires driven by extreme heat, Californians know that the calamitous consequences of climate change are upon us — and that it would be folly not to do whatever we can to keep those consequences from becoming worse.
There was a time when the notion of transitioning the world’s fifth-largest economy to 100 percent clean power would have seemed a pipe dream, and an expensive one at that. But the world changes fast. Today, renewable energy is abundant, affordable and getting less expensive by the day.
Across California, the state Public Utilities Commission reports that electrical utilities are on target to meet their 50 percent renewable standard by 2020 — a full 10 years ahead of schedule.
SB 100, authored by Sen. Kevin de Leon, D-Los Angeles, is now before the Assembly. The bill is not an inflexible government mandate; it sets a goal but does not establish penalties if it cannot be met. But just the act of declaring California’s aspiration for clean energy will have powerful consequences.
It would send a message to innovators that they can invest in new technologies with full confidence that there will be a robust market in California for their products.
SB 100 looks forward 27 years. If we look back 27 years, we see there were no smartphones and no wireless Internet. Given the pace of technological change and the benefits that can be achieved from a clean-energy future, this is a vision California must embrace. Assemblyman Evan Low represents the 28th District in the California Assembly. Carl Guardino is CEO of the Silicon Valley Leadership Group and treasurer of the California League of Conservation Voters.