Our View: Valley Democrats must stand firm on clean-energy plan

California’s Democratic Party leaders and environmentalists are putting a full-court press on holdouts in the Assembly to pass Senate Bill 350, which sets ambitious reductions in carbon emissions. As any basketball fan knows, to beat the press you must press back.

SB 350 sets these clean-air goals for 2020: cut petroleum use 50 percent, get 50 percent of electricity from renewables, and increase the energy efficiency of buildings by 50 percent.

We support legislation that enables people to breathe more easily and enjoy healthier lives. And we are proud that California is a world leader in embracing new technologies.

But those new technologies are costly, and we are adamant that those costs be spread among all Californians, and not fall mainly on those who can least afford them. Unfortunately, a great deal of those costs will hit residents of the San Joaquin Valley the hardest and fastest. That’s unfair, since we already bear much higher costs through higher electricity bills for summertime cooling and higher gas costs for commuting. If this legislation is to pass, it must provide us with real, concrete benefits.

Fortunately, Assembly Speaker Toni Atkins needs the Valley’s moderate Democrats to move SB 350 and SB 32 to Gov. Jerry Brown’s desk. Even better, they are driving a hard bargain, and they have our support.

Twenty Valley Democrats, including Assemblyman Adam Gray, articulated some entirely reasonable, common-sense goals in a meeting with Atkins.

For instance, the legislation would remove roof-top solar panels from the list of “renewable energy.” That is sheer idiocy – just as inane as saying electricity generated from falling water isn’t renewable. Power-generating irrigation districts such as Merced, Modesto, Oakdale, South San Joaquin and Turlock have suffered for years because of that indefensible misclassification. That should be rectified, allowing districts to get credit for the green energy they create. And roof-top solar must remain classified as a renewable energy. There’s more:

▪ Since air pollution poses major health risks in our Valley, our Valley should get the lion’s share of funding for remedies. Not an equal share or a “fair share,” but the lion’s share. This is where the problem is, this is where the fixes are most needed.

▪ Don’t let “perfect solutions” get in the way of real progress. For example, Assemblyman Henry T. Perea of Fresno authored AB 857 to help replace long-haul diesel with low-carbon alternative fuels. It unanimously passed the Assembly, but has stalled in the Senate where foes say it will delay the conversion to electric engines. Each converted diesel represents the “equivalent of replacing 98 gasoline cars with electric cars,” said Perea. Make it part of the package.

▪ Pay it forward. Most of the increased costs of carbon reduction will hit here the hardest. We need tax credits for the ensuing higher electricity bills, rebates for buying new or used cleaner-burning vehicles and incentives for creating shade and cutting power costs. We live in the hottest climate and drive the farthest for our jobs. Don’t make it more costly to live here.

▪ This absolutely must not create another board of appointed commissioners with virtually imperial regulatory authority and no accountability. We already fear the havoc such an overarching board has as we await the State Water Resources Control Board’s recommendations on how much water it wants us to send toward state and federal pumps rather than onto our fields.

So far, every San Joaquin Valley legislator is standing firm. They should not budge until our problems are addressed. This cannot become opportunity to create additional problems in our valley – we already have enough.

This story was originally published August 27, 2015 at 5:14 PM with the headline "Our View: Valley Democrats must stand firm on clean-energy plan."