Big Utilities drop $4 MILLION more into defeating clean energy

Last week, PG&E and Southern Cal Edison dumped another $4 million dollars on top of their $23 million dollar war chest to defeat Proposition 7. That brings the efforts of the Big Utilities to an astounding $27 million dollars, not including the years of sponsoring so-called environmental groups to win over their praise.

What is most unfortunate and unnerving to me, and I know many readers of this blog feel this way because of emails you’ve sent me, is that a few “environmental” groups with deep financial and personal ties to the utilities are framing the debate, in a dishonest manner, around Prop 7.

I urge all readers of this blog to check out the (well-documented and transparent) money trail from these utilities to the major environmental groups opposed to prop 7 that I’ve already written about in previous posts. The fact that the National Resources Defense Council, at the behest of Ralph Cavanagh, broke the backs of other environmental groups to get deregulation passed in the 90's on behalf of Enron is well documented. In fact, the cast of characters who are opposed to Prop 7 and the scare tactics they are using are not just reminiscent but practically identical to the coalition that helped (1) pass deregulation and (2) killed Prop 9, a voter-initiated ballot measure to mitigate what vigilant consumer groups knew would be the devastating effects of deregulation once implemented. Cavanagh is quoted in the press praising PG&E and Enron. In fact he was a cheerleader for Enron in the lead up and right during the energy crisis. At the very least, it shows that NRDC and the other environmental groups that cheered on the big utilities deregulation efforts can't be trusted on major energy policy. In the alternative, it makes a strong case for the NRDC not being independent from the big utilities.

As to the CA League of Conservation voters, the board is comprised of current and past utility executives (utilities funding the No on Prop 7 campaign) , one of whom had an illustrious career as PG&E's lawyer and who even argued before the U.S. Supreme Court for PG&E's right to mail political editorials in the billing statements to customers at rate payer expense (and won). The CLVC website repeatedly declares that PG&E sponsors CLVC's events. Is CLVC in the business of greenwashing PG&E? To my mind, this raises the basic principle that you do not bite the hand that feeds you.

CEERT is similarly situated, with board members from Sempra, SDG&E, Edison, CE generation, Enron, GE, Calpine, American Energy Holdings.

My more detailed posts on the the utility - CLVC connection can be found here: http://confusedinsolarcalifornia.blogspot.com/2008/08/ca-league-of-conservation-voters.html and a more detailed post about NRDC’s past as an Enron cheerleader can be found here: http://confusedinsolarcalifornia.blogspot.com/2008/08/cozy-relations-bt-nrdc-and-pg-and.html.

PG&E, Southern Cal Edison, and Sempra all hope that the years they've spent infusing environmental groups and political parties with millions of dollars will be the icing on their $27 million war cake to defeat Prop. 7 and silence the voices of Californians who are demanding clean energy now.