February 25th, 2009
By Shermakaye Bass
Green Right Now
On March 3, Los Angelenos will vote on a solar energy measure that has created controversy in some quarters, and whose progress other U.S. cities may want to watch.
Measure B, also known as the Green Energy and Good Jobs for Los Angeles Act, calls for a major increase in the amount of solar power used by the City of Los Angeles (400 megawatts to be created by 2014; enough to power about 240,000 homes). It would create a new training academy for workers; offer tax incentives to L.A. manufacturers who move into solar power technology and installation; and place solar installation, ownership and maintenance in the hands of the municipally owned Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP). Ultimately, Measure B would put up hundreds of acres of solar voltaics, on rooftops and land.
Involving two basic camps – those who oppose Measure B but not necessarily solar energy; and those who consider Measure B a strong starting point – the dust-up has swirled with anti-B accusations of back-room deal making, local-politics playing, lack of proper public vetting, union steamrolling – and worse.
One opponent, Jack Humphreville, who recently spoke with us about the flare-up, described City Hall’s handling of the measure as “Chicago-style politics” with “a Boss Tweed” (that would be supporter Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa) at the helm, saying voters and businesses were cut from the process when the proposal bypassed conventional steps through City Council and went straight to ballot. He also complains that the measure unnecessarily changes the City Charter.
The “pro” camp has kept its dirt-flinging to a minimum, saying opponents cling to an outdated model of how L.A.’s utilities should, and actually do, function. They believe their adversaries have taken a pro-business/anti-City Hall stance at the expense of the public good.
So as L.A. residents cast their ballots next week, the rest of the country might learn something about emerging municipal and state debates on how to embrace cleaner energy and new, green jobs. Perhaps all the acrimony wrought by L.A.’s Measure B can serve as, if nothing else, an example of what not to do as other cities move toward greener power sources, which will invariably upset the long-held status quo.
Almost all parties in the Measure B battle agree that now is the time; that renewable energy must be embraced more by American cities.
But as always, it seems the devil is in the details.
A non-political observer whose organization supports the measure, David Pettit, senior attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council and director of the NRDC’s Southern California for Air Quality Program, believes the process of getting Measure B on the ballot could have been better handled.
“It seems to me it could’ve been less messy. And to me, the messiness has taken away from the message on the merits of Measure B. But we (NRDC) are an environmental organization – and what really concerns me is what’s going to be good for us as a city. I’m not a political consultant or analyst. I’m here to try to make the air quality better in Los Angeles.”
L.A., by virtue of its geography and population, has some of the worst air pollution suffered by any city in the world. With so many people, cars and industry packed into an air-trapping valley, L.A. has long been known as a smog capital. Last year (among other years), the American Lung Association ranked Los Angeles as top worst polluted city in the U.S. for year-round air particle pollution. (Pittsburgh won first place for worst “short term” pollution.)
Opponents to Measure B aren’t arguing with the need to address the twin problems of bad air and outdated, polluting fossil-fuel energy sources.
“The debate is not about solar energy, okay? We all buy into the solar energy, and this includes people that don’t necessarily agree with the global warming stuff,” and people who just want energy independence, says Humphreville, who represents the Greater Wilshire Neighborhood Council in opposition to the plan.
: Next Page-->
