SF Chronicle Editorial: A clean-energy plan in doubt
Share this pageCalifornia is poised to push green, renewable power to a new level, a goal of 33 percent of its energy diet by 2020. But there’s a holdup from a surprise source: Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, usually a reliable green-tech ally.
The fight isn’t finished, but he’s signaling that he wants to take a softer - and potentially less sweeping - course in the shift to wind, solar, geothermal and other renewable sources. Instead of signing a newly passed law, SB14 authored by Palo Alto Democrat Joe Simitian, the governor may veto the bill and aim for the same goal with an executive order.
That approach wouldn’t have the force of law and could be tempered by following governors. A momentous shift in California’s energy diet can’t be sustained with this kind of uncertainty. “It has to be real and meaningful,” Simitian said. There “needs to be a state law.”
Read the full editorial on the Chronicle website