REAP URGES GOVERNOR JERRY BROWN TO SIGN SB 2X;

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:                                     CONTACT: Pablo Rodríguez   510-842-6063

March 30, 2011

REAP URGES GOVERNOR JERRY BROWN TO SIGN SB 2X; Simitian Bill Requires Big Utilities To Meet 33% Renewable Energy Standard by 2020

Sacramento, CA – In response to yesterday’s vote in the California State Assembly which has sent SB 2X (Simitian) to Governor Jerry Brown’s desk, Jim Gonzalez, Chair of the Renewable Energy Accountability Project (REAP), sent Governor Jerry Brown an open letter. (Below)

SB 2X would establish in law the requirement that private and public utilities obtain at least 33% of their electricity they sell from renewable energy sources by 2020.

In the letter, Gonzalez on behalf of REAP, urged Governor Brown to sign SB 2X into law stating, “Enacting SB 2X will send a strong message to the big utilities to stop spending tens of millions of dollars on propaganda campaigns, to derail clean renewable energy; in order to continue relying on fossil fuels and nuclear energy.   The lessons of the past year, as evidenced by coal sludge disasters, the BP Gulf oil spill, and the ongoing Tokyo Electric Power Company nuclear disaster in Japan clearly indicate that aggressively pursuing a clean renewable energy future is the only sane alternative.  It is time that the big electric utilities finally get on board.”

ABOUT THE RENEWABLE ENERGY ACCOUNTABILITY PROJECT (REAP): REAP is a nationwide grassroots advocacy organization dedicated to ensuring energy independence and reducing global warming pollution. REAP monitors and reports on the progress of clean electricity generation as we transition away from dirty coal and fossil fuels.    REAP Chair, Jim Gonzalez, is a former member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.

FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT REAP VISIT: http://www.reapinfo.org

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Dear Governor Brown:

The Renewable Energy Accountability Project (REAP) respectfully requests that you sign SB 2X (Simitian) which would establish  in law the requirement that private and public utilities obtain at least 33% of their electricity from renewable energy sources by 2020.

In 2008, I was a proponent of Proposition 7, The Solar and Clean Energy Act, which would have required all utilities to provide more solar, wind, geothermal, biomass, tidal, and small hydroelectric energy.  Proposition 7 would have increased renewable energy standards 2% per year, over seventeen years, so that half of California’s electricity would come from cleaner and cheaper sources by 2025.  SB 2X is consistent with the spirit and intention of Proposition 7, and represents an essential step towards a renewable energy future.

As stated during the campaign for Proposition 7, “California’s electric utilities have a dirty little secret: Most of California’s electricity comes from burning coal and fossil fuels. Experts agree that 40% of global warming pollution comes from this type of electricity generation. Electricity from dirty power plants, owned, operated, or transmitted by California utilities, releases 107 million metric tons of greenhouse gas pollution each year.  That makes California the world’s 16^th largest global warming polluter.  (Half of Los Angeles’ electricity is generated with out-of-state coal.).”

Enacting SB 2X will send a strong message to the big utilities to stop spending tens of millions of dollars on propaganda campaigns, to derail clean renewable energy; in order to continue relying on fossil fuels and nuclear energy.   The lessons of the past year, as evidenced by coal sludge disasters, the BP Gulf oil spill, and the ongoing Tokyo Electric Power Company nuclear disaster in Japan clearly indicate that aggressively pursuing a clean renewable energy future is the only sane course.  It is time that the big electric utilities finally get on board.