San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders and other local political leaders have announced they oppose Proposition 23, the state initiative to suspend California’s global warming law until California’s unemployment rate falls.
The law, AB32, places mandates on businesses to reduce carbon dioxide emissions believed by many scientists to cause global warming. Backers of the initiative say it will protect California jobs from ineffectual, feel-good legislation that will cost the state hundreds of thousands of jobs. Opponents say Prop 23 will set California backward in its move to a clean energy-based economy.
Here is a press release from Cleantech San Diego, a trade group supporting “green” energy, that praises Sanders and the others:
Mayor Sanders Announces Opposition to Prop 23
SAN DIEGO (September 17, 2010) – San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders announced today that he opposes Proposition 23, the November ballot initiative that seeks to repeal AB 32, California’s landmark legislation passed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
With this move, Mayor Sanders joins Chula Vista Mayor Cheryl Cox, La Mesa Mayor Art Madrid, El Cajon Mayor Mark Lewis, Solana Beach Mayor Thomas Campbell and Del Mar Mayor Richard Earnest, along with over 30 other cities including Los Angeles and Sacramento, in addition to many other public officials and business leaders, to oppose Proposition 23.
“The clean-tech sector is booming in San Diego,” Mayor Sanders said. “These companies have moved to San Diego because they stand to thrive and prosper as the state seeks to meet its greenhouse-gas standards over the next few decades. Proposition 23 would throw these businesses into chaos by eliminating those greenhouse-gas standards. It would also eliminate a powerful incentive for other clean-tech companies to relocate or expand here.”
“Mayor Sanders has been an extremely valuable partner to the development and growth of this region’s cleantech cluster. His stance on this issue solidifies his focus on making San Diego a leader in the cleantech economy,” Jim Waring, Chairman of CleanTECH San Diego. “AB 32 creates an important framework for many of the San Diego region’s environmental and economic policies. This, in turn, provides certainty to the business and investment communities. Repealing AB 32 would be detrimental to our region’s economy.”
San Diego is already a leader in the cleantech economy, with over 750 cleantech companies calling our region home. To date, the region’s cleantech economy has seen 57 percent job growth in the past decade. This represents a significant number of jobs to the residents of our region, and those numbers are expected to grow. Proposition 23, would essentially prohibit the growth of the cleantech industry and eliminate future job potential.
To learn more from those in favor of Prop. 23, click here for John and Ken’s Facebook page. Here’s the initiative’s official Web site.
Comments 3
I see…save a few green jobs…at the expense of losing thousands of…the rest of the jobs. There aren’t too many businesses that this won’t affect. From the truckers who bring in merchandise, to the machine shops, manufacturing, etc., etc.
Mr. Mayor, I wish I could vote you out in November.
Thanks Jerry Sanders! Combined with your massive sales tax hike, we’ll all be unemployed soon.
Someone get this guy out of office.
It’s time for the mayor to resign. The parallels with Dick Murphy are stunning.