by Dan Bacher
Governor Jerry Brown, in yet one more photo opportunity to portray himself as the “Green Governor,” will join government, climate, business, environmental justice and community leaders today in Los Angeles to sign legislation – SB 350 by Senate President pro Tempore Kevin de León (D-Los Angeles),
This bill “bolsters California’s nation-leading commitment to energy efficiency, renewable energy and the fight against climate change,” according to a press advisory from the Governor’s Office.
The event will take place at 10:30 a.m. at the Griffith Observatory, East Terrace, 2800 East Observatory Rd, Los Angeles, CA 90027.
“SB 350 codifies goals Governor Brown laid out in his January 2015 inaugural address to double the rate of energy efficiency savings in California buildings and generate half of the state’s electricity from renewable sources by 2030,” according to the Governor’s Office. “The legislation is an important step in the state’s landmark plan to cut climate-warming pollution.”
Californians Against Fracking cautiously applauded this step, but warned that the bill “does nothing to address oil and gas drilling in California, which remains the third largest oil producer in the country.”
“There’s no question that increasing the amount of power California gets from renewable sources is good for our state, but cutting emissions and increasing clean energy use only gets us part of the way,” said Rebecca Claassen, Santa Barbara County organizer at Food & Water Watch, in a statement on behalf of Californians Against Fracking.
“Climate change affects us globally and to continue to lead, California must also reduce oil and gas production. Gov. Brown should immediately stop the worst drilling practices including all forms of fracking to further protect not just California communities, but natural resources worldwide,” concluded Claasen.
While Jerry Brown grandstands about “green energy” and “climate change” in conferences and photo opportunities in California and across the globe, he has promoted the expansion of the environmentally destructive practice of fracking in the state.
And fracking is just one of the many environmentally destructive policies of the Brown administration. Governor Brown has relentlessly pushed the salmon-killing Delta Tunnels under the Bay Delta Conservation Plan/California Water Fix; has promoted water policies that have driven salmon, steelhead, Delta smelt and other fish to the edge of extinction; presided over record water exports out of the Delta in 2011; backs the clearcutting of forests in the Sierra Nevada; and is a strong supporter of neo-liberal carbon trading policies that routinely promote environmentally ineffective and socially unjust projects across the globe.