VOTE YES ON MEASURE B

BY BILL CORCORAN
Senior Regional Representative, Sierra Club

Along with the promise of a greener L.A., the passage of Measure B brings the potential for new jobs such as solar panel installation (pictured above) and panel manufacturing. Photo Credit: Gary Leonard

This March 3, residents of Los Angeles can take bold action for clean power by voting YES on Measure B and make Los Angeles the nation's leader in locally produced solar energy. Measure B, the "Solar Energy and Job Creation Program," puts the city on course to increase its local solar energy production thirty-fold. A YES vote for Measure B means clean energy, good jobs, and skills training to prepare workers for the green economy.

The stakes are high. In 2004, the City of Los Angeles emitted more than 50 million tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere - more than the entire country of Sweden. One-third of the emissions came from the municipally owned Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP), which today draws 76 percent of its energy from the fossil fuels coal and natural gas. Angelenos are major contributors to global warming, which puts our water supply at risk due to reduced snow in the Sierra.

Following voter approval of Measure B, the LADWP Los Angeles Department of Water and Power would have five years to place enough city-owned solar panels on city property and on commercial buildings to produce 400 megawatts of electricity, which could provide enough power for more than 180,000 homes in Los Angeles.

Local solar installations will improve the resilience of the city's power grid, reduce the need fornew transmission lines, and provide training and well-paying jobs. Furthermore, local solar installation has the potential through bid preferences to spur the manufacture in Los Angeles of panels and other program-related materials.

The "Solar Energy and Job Creation Program" is the city-owned rooftop solar portion of an overall solar plan for Los Angeles that includes programs for private solar installations and other solar facilities. Taken all together, the plan will result in the production of nearly 1,300 megawatts of solar electricity, the world's most ambitious municipal effort.

"The 'Solar Energy and Job Creation Program' brings together clean energy and good jobs, making Los Angeles a better place to live," said Jim Stewart, co-chair of the Angeles Chapter's Global Warming, Energy & Air Quality Committee. "The danger of global warming grows each day. There is no higher environmental priority in Los Angeles than reducing its greenhouse gas pollution and passing Measure B is critical to meeting that goal. In addition, solar energy will reduce use of fossil fuels, improving air quality."

Vote YES on Measure B, the "Solar Energy and Job Creation Program," for a healthier Los Angeles.

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