Activists warn: SB 350 won't address CA oil and gas drilling

Activists warn: SB 350 won't address CA oil and gas drilling

by Dan Bacher

As Jerry Brown continues to support the expansion of environmentally destructive fracking in California, the Governor on October 7 joined government, climate, business, environmental justice and community leaders in Los Angeles as he signed renewable energy legislation, SB 350, by Senate President pro Tempore Kevin de León (D-Los Angeles).

This bill, amended under heavy political pressure by the Western States Petroleum Association (WSPA), the most powerful corporate lobbying group in Sacramento, "bolsters California’s nation-leading commitment to energy efficiency, renewable energy and the fight against climate change," according to a press advisory from the Governor's Office.

“California has taken groundbreaking steps to increase the efficiency of our cars, buildings and appliances and provide ever more renewable energy,” said Governor Brown. “With SB 350, we deepen our commitment.”

Before being amended, Senate Bill 350 called for a 50 percent reduction in petroleum use in cars and trucks, a 50 percent increase in energy efficiency in buildings, and a goal of 50 percent of state utilities’ power coming from renewable energy, all by 2030.

On September 9, Governor Brown and legislative leaders held a press conference to announce the removal of the provision in the bill calling for a 50 percent reduction in petroleum use in cars and trucks, under pressure from Big Oil. However, the other two provisions remain.

"SB 350 codifies goals Governor Brown laid out in his January 2015 inaugural address to double the rate of energy efficiency savings in California buildings and generate half of the state’s electricity from renewable sources by 2030," according to the Governor's Office.

The signing event took place at 10:30 a.m. at the Griffith Observatory, East Terrace, in Los Angeles.

Senate President pro Tempore De León said, "Today, California is laying the groundwork for a healthier and sustainable future for all of our families. We are showing the world through innovation how we can transition and increase access to renewable energy while cleaning up the air we breathe, especially in our most polluted communities.”

Californians Against Fracking cautiously applauded this step, but warned that the bill "does nothing to address oil and gas drilling in California, which remains the third largest oil producer in the country."

"There’s no question that increasing the amount of power California gets from renewable sources is good for our state, but cutting emissions and increasing clean energy use only gets us part of the way," said Rebecca Claassen, Santa Barbara County organizer at Food & Water Watch, in a statement on behalf of Californians Against Fracking.

"Climate change affects us globally and to continue to lead, California must also reduce oil and gas production. Gov. Brown should immediately stop the worst drilling practices including all forms of fracking to further protect not just California communities, but natural resources worldwide," concluded Claasen.

While Jerry Brown grandstands about "green energy" and "climate change" in conferences and photo opportunities in California and across the globe, he has promoted the expansion of fracking in the state.

And fracking is just one of the many environmentally devastating policies of the Brown administration. Governor Brown has relentlessly pushed the salmon-killing Delta Tunnels under the Bay Delta Conservation Plan/California Water Fix; has promoted water policies that have driven salmon, steelhead, Delta smelt and other fish to the edge of extinction; presided over record water exports out of the Delta in 2011; backs the clearcutting of forests in the Sierra Nevada; and is a strong supporter of neo-liberal carbon trading policies that routinely promote environmentally ineffective and socially unjust projects across the globe.

For a complete discussion of Brown’s tainted environmental policies, go to http://www.truth-out.org/speakout/item/30452-the-extinction-governor-rips-the-green-mask-off-his-tunnels-plan

For an in-depth discussion of how the oil industry was able to remove a significant provision of SB 350 and defeat other environmental legislation, go to: http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/32836-california-activists-call-for-fracking-ban

Background: Big Oil Money and Power in California

Big Oil, the largest and most powerful corporate lobby in Sacramento, wields its influence by spending its money on lobbying and election campaigns, creating Astroturf groups and getting its officials and friends on state regulatory panels - and used every bit of its power to gut SB 350.

Big Oil spent a total of $266 million influencing California politics from 2005 to 2014, according to an analysis of California Secretary of State data by StopFoolingCA.org, an online and social media public education and awareness campaign that highlights oil companies’ efforts to “mislead and confuse Californians.” The industry spent $112 million of this money on lobbying and the other $154 million on political campaigns. (http://www.eastbayexpress.com/SevenDays/archives/2015/07/29/californias-biggest-secret-oil-industry-capture-of-the-regulatory-apparatus)

Last year the Western States Petroleum Association, led by President Catherine Reheis-Boyd, the former Chair of the Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative Blue Ribbon Task Force to create "marine protected areas" in Southern California, spent a record $8.9 million on lobbying, double what it spent in the previous year. In the first six months of 2015, the oil industry spent $6.2 million to lobby state officials, including $2,529,240 spent by the Western States Petroleum Association alone. (http://cal-access.sos.ca.gov/Lobbying/Employers/Detail.aspx?id=1147195&view=activity&session=2015)

The defeat of SB 350 and other bills opposed by the oil industry and Governor Jerry Brown's support of the expansion of fracking in California show how Big Oil, along with agribusiness, the timber industry, developers and other corporate interests, has captured the regulatory apparatus in the state.