Oh California, my California...

It’s that time of the year again—when televised car chases get interrupted by commercials for Proposition X, Y, and Z. The Golden State has a long history of ballot initiatives (over 1,000 in less than a hundred years), and this election cycle is no different.

Personally, I hate ballot initiatives. We elect legislators to consider and weigh the various pieces of legislation in Sacramento, hopefully making informed decisions. At the very least, state legislators have a great deal more information and resources at their disposal, and are better equipped to assess the impact, feasibility, cost, and gain of various bills. This is, I admit, a somewhat rosy view of state politics, especially in a state as dysfunctional as California. However, the alternative is no better. This couldn’t be more obvious with Prop 7.
Prop 7 is a 42 page initiative that sets out to require California to procure 50% of its power from renewable sources by 2020, with benchmarks of 40% in 2015 and 20% by 2010. It fast tracks state investment into renewable energy plant construction, sets fines for power companies who do not comply, and prohibits the companies from passing on increased costs to consumers. Proponents contend that aside from the obvious environmental benefits, it will create 370,000 living wage jobs.

Great, huh? Well, perhaps not. A large number of people and groups (from the left and right) oppose Prop 7. Apparently, some consider the bill so poorly designed that it will hurt the cause of renewable energy by tying up various constituent parts of the bill in lawsuit hell for years. Part of Prop 7 is forcing energy retailers into 20 year contracts, and many people are uncomfortable with long term energy contracts after the way Enron screwed over California some years ago. Ballot initiatives are hard to undo; they require a 2/3 majority vote to reverse in the state legislature.

So who is against Prop 7? Well, the Republican Party of California. And the Democratic Party of California. And the Union of Concerned Scientists, the Natural Resources Defense Council, the California League of Conservation Voters, and the California Labor Federation. But wait—the biggest donors to the anti-Prop 7 group are PG & E, California Edison, and Sempra—the biggest energy companies with operations in California. Kind of a red flag for me.

Supporters of Prop 7 include the Progressive Democrats of California, Dr. Ernst von Weizsaker (Dean of the School of Environmental Science at the University of California Santa Barbara), and the Mendocino County Progressive Democrats. The chief financial backer of the initiative is Peter Sperling, (son of the founder of the University of Phoenix).

What’s a guy to do? Do I go with my gut and join up with the Mendocino County Progressive Democrats? Or are they just smoking that good organic weed? Maybe I should listen to the Union of Concerned Scientists and the Natural Resources Defense Council? But they are on the same side as the Big Energy companies…