NO on Proposition 7: Looks good on the surface

At a recent kids' soccer game, on of my friends came up to me and asked what I thought about Proposition 7. I hadn't looked into it, but what I had heard made it sound like a good idea. Who doesn't want to encourage renewable energy?

And, of course, all the big environmental groups I trust were for it. Right?

Wrong.

After some quick research I found out there are a few groups who oppose 7. Here is a partial list:

• The California Democratic Party
• The Sierra Club of California
• The California League of Conservation Voters
• The California Green Party
• Natural Resources Defense Council
• Union of Concerned Scientists

(This list came from here; I added the Green Party to this though.)

I tend to defer to the judgment of the groups that I'm familiar with. A NO from the Sierra Club and the CLCV is by far enough for me. The other groups joining the choir just seal the deal.


To quote Dan Kalb, the California Policy Coordinator for the Union of Concerned Scientists (and a fellow Calif. Dem. delegate):

"Proposition 7 would likely slow down the move toward more renewable energy in our state because the initiative locks into law significant loopholes and other serious flaws that will increase uncertainty and hinder renewable development. If we're going to address the very serious problem of global warming, we must get the solutions right. Sadly, Prop. 7 gets it wrong."

Some more reading about the arguments against 7 can be found, for example, here.