tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25521889724968674972024-03-05T12:10:47.041-08:00Confused in Solar CaliforniaLet's face it - being 'green' is the new cool. But sometimes an ulterior, industry-driven motive lurks behind the 'green halo' that we trust in so-called environmental organizations. This blog is dedicated to keeping individuals and organizations who claim to be for clean, renewable energy accountable.Solar Cali Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03706910194041815381noreply@blogger.comBlogger42125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2552188972496867497.post-66631166690242949472009-03-04T16:41:00.001-08:002009-03-04T23:03:03.869-08:00Did PG&E Buy the CA League of Conservation Voter’s Endorsement Against Renewable Energy?The popularly accepted definition of “greenwashing” is inextricably linked to corporate bad behavior. But what about the “green” groups that give these corporations cover? During last year’s tumultuous campaign season, voters had the opportunity to place the strictest and most aggressive renewable energy mandate into law with Proposition 7. But an aggressive campaign defined by deceit and mired Solar Cali Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03706910194041815381noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2552188972496867497.post-7413175269376987812009-02-13T19:49:00.000-08:002009-02-13T21:32:02.470-08:00The Green's Advocacy MalpracticeIt’s still early in the new year, and promises of green jobs and stricter carbon emission standards abound. Between the California Legislature, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, and the Democratically-controlled Congress and White House, clean and renewable energy advocates are doubtlessly tempted to be excited. But before we sip champagne and trust the green priesthood, I suggest we take a moment Solar Cali Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03706910194041815381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2552188972496867497.post-69543570402885713542008-11-09T00:26:00.000-08:002008-11-09T22:22:30.730-08:00To be continued....On Tuesday, November 4th, PG&E, Sempra and Southern Cal Edison were successful in their bid to halt stronger renewable energy mandates in CA...for now. They, and their allies (aiders and abetters) in the (so-called) environmental community, may think they are off the hook in the fight to switch from dirty fossil fuels to clean energy sources. But those of us in the know, know that women Solar Cali Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03706910194041815381noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2552188972496867497.post-5721877661425591582008-11-04T08:32:00.000-08:002008-11-04T08:57:30.676-08:00Vote Today and Vote Yes on 7!Well folks, this journey began several months ago with a hunt for answers. I inadvertantly stumbled upon an enviro/utility relationship that increasingly thickened the more I dug. Some of you have emailed me to point out that I have only scratched the surface, and I know that to be the truth. There is much left to be written about.After months of wading through the available evidence, I'm Solar Cali Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03706910194041815381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2552188972496867497.post-18520821024416250292008-11-03T18:20:00.000-08:002008-11-03T19:01:59.486-08:00My Vote is YES on 7I woke up this morning feeling like it was Christmas Eve. In just one day, there will be a pile of shiny new presents promising me a clean energy future. Tingling with excitement, I started preparing an entry for today that explains why I am voting for Proposition 7. Then, when I was toodling around on google, I discovered that the Sierra Club has posted an “explanation” of its opposition to Solar Cali Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03706910194041815381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2552188972496867497.post-59505408297401138442008-10-31T09:12:00.000-07:002008-10-31T09:13:05.639-07:00Genuinely frighteningOne more video for Halloween. This one's spooky!Solar Cali Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03706910194041815381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2552188972496867497.post-59717133771785782342008-10-31T08:44:00.000-07:002008-10-31T09:10:13.936-07:00Oldie but Goodie for Halloween SpooksI’ve posted this before. But in honor of today’s holiday, I’m bringing it back! What is PG&E, Sempra and Southern Cal Edison's campaign against clean energy dressing up as for Halloween? Environmentalists!Happy Halloween! And let’s give PG&E a real scare - vote yes on 7 today if you haven’t yet!Solar Cali Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03706910194041815381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2552188972496867497.post-90925707104822236932008-10-26T11:58:00.000-07:002008-10-26T15:14:51.505-07:00The Sierra Club's Big DisgraceThere has been a lot of talk about the Sierra Club's opposition to Proposition 7. No doubt, PG&E, Southern Cal Edison, and Sempra were positively giddy when a Sierra Club member agreed to star in a commercial for them, hoping to signal the death knell on new clean and renewable energy requirements from Prop 7.Of course, I and readers of this blog know that Sierra Club has certainly done its Solar Cali Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03706910194041815381noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2552188972496867497.post-30674770661872278962008-10-25T17:22:00.000-07:002008-10-25T17:33:35.388-07:00Big Money ReportThe latest campaign report came online this week. Here’s a quick rundown of what’s going on with money:So far, Pacific Gas & Electric, Sempra, and Southern Cal Edison have spent $29,564,547.87 on defeating Prop. 7, the clean and renewable energy initiative. Let’s see where their money is going:$547,160 on polling since June 10th. $300,600 of that was spent between October 1st and October 18thSolar Cali Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03706910194041815381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2552188972496867497.post-89327409751882155552008-10-20T20:45:00.001-07:002008-10-20T20:45:54.018-07:00New Yes on 7 Commercial - Listen to the scientists!Solar Cali Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03706910194041815381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2552188972496867497.post-83220894732520480702008-10-20T12:38:00.001-07:002008-10-22T11:50:09.431-07:00The Big Utilities' Green HaloJust posted this article on Daily Kos:
People ask themselves ‘why do the environmentalists oppose proposition 7?’ Or, they don’t ask any questions at all, blissfully unaware that they are accepting the deliberately flawed claims about Prop 7 concocted by the state’s 3 Big Utilities – PG&E, Southern California Edison, and Sempra. But who can blame them? You will never see PG&E at any Solar Cali Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03706910194041815381noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2552188972496867497.post-21791480660289621052008-10-18T17:30:00.000-07:002008-10-18T17:54:36.089-07:00Utilities Hire Republican Firm to Perform Dirty TricksWith time running out for the Big Utilities to come up with new lies about Proposition 7 to trick people into voting against it (no pun intended in light of the upcoming holiday), they've continued to rely on the fabrication that Proposition 7 excludes small renewable energy producers. And I use the word 'fabrication' deliberately – neither the independent, non-partisan legislative analyst’s Solar Cali Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03706910194041815381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2552188972496867497.post-3721608048792142482008-10-14T20:05:00.000-07:002008-10-14T20:11:56.537-07:00“Electricity deregulation is a matter of religious faith” says No on 7’s chief economistI noticed that the No on Prop 7 website has what appear to be several white papers on the economic impacts if Prop 7 passes. These white papers are all predicated with the phrase “economists predict…”Not surprisingly, these 'white papers' forecast nothing short of a financial apocalypse if Proposition 7 passes. All the doom-and-gloom predictions made me curious about who these ‘economists’ doing Solar Cali Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03706910194041815381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2552188972496867497.post-78359463001952418882008-10-13T15:29:00.000-07:002008-10-20T10:15:24.743-07:00Sempra adds $2 Mil - Total utility spending now $29.5 millionLooks like PG&E and Southern Cal Edison were feeling like they were carrying the entire financial burden in defeating Proposition 7. Until now, these two utility-giants had each contributed over $13 million to defeat Proposition 7, while Sempra kicked in just over $100,000.With Election Day just three weeks away, and most of their war chest already spent on television ads, Sempra has thrown Solar Cali Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03706910194041815381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2552188972496867497.post-91251016807342167842008-10-10T19:28:00.000-07:002008-10-10T19:34:30.571-07:00Green, Inc. - A PreviewAfter nearly two months (and $20 million spent on t.v. and radio alone) of deceitful television/radio commercials from the utility-funded No on Prop 7 campaign, PG&E and Southern California Edison executives are hoping that the thought they’ve impressed into everyone’s minds is “The environmental groups oppose Proposition 7! Oh my!" They are crossing their fingers that by trotting out Solar Cali Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03706910194041815381noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2552188972496867497.post-4651338788371842882008-10-08T11:47:00.000-07:002008-10-08T11:51:21.592-07:00Big Utilities Trot Out Union of Concerned ScientistsNow that the Natural Resources Defense Council and its lead spokesman, Ralph Cavanagh, have been battered by Prop 7 enthusiasts for their historical and well-documented role as Utility Shill/Cheerleader, the Utility-funded No on Prop 7 campaign has switched gears and is trotting out the Union of Concerned Scientists to hide behind. As Dr. Donald Aitken, one of the first proponents of a RenewablesSolar Cali Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03706910194041815381noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2552188972496867497.post-69981223034043780752008-10-04T00:08:00.000-07:002008-10-20T10:16:15.290-07:00Campaign contributions pay off for Big UtilitiesThe blog has been a little quiet this week, but not because there hasn’t been plenty going on in the world of Proposition 7. Solar Cali Girl has been under the gun with deadlines at her real job.So now that I have a minute:Did you know between 2002 and 2008, electric utilities in California gave $13,291,877 to influence political parties and ballot measures? That, of course, doesn’t include the $Solar Cali Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03706910194041815381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2552188972496867497.post-3042596329600169852008-09-29T10:16:00.000-07:002008-10-20T10:17:22.642-07:00"Enviros" chastised for fronting for utilitiesIn a strongly-worded letter sent to the Northern California Solar Energy Association, Dr. Donald Aitken, a former lead scientist with the Union of Concerned Scientists and original proponent of the Renewable Portfolio Standard, chastises his former environmentalist colleagues for their short-sighted attempt at subterfuge of Proposition 7.The letter, sent via email, is four pages long and makes a Solar Cali Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03706910194041815381noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2552188972496867497.post-37464975493825501022008-09-24T16:53:00.000-07:002008-10-20T10:14:03.022-07:00"The Green Seal" or "The Scam You Never Knew Existed"In 2001, Alexander Cockburn, in true muckraking style, exposed the “green seal” being used by Enron to pass deregulation. The “green seal,” of course, was Ralph Cavanagh and the NRDC. A snippet from the article (the full text of which you can get here):
“The fall of Enron sounds the death knell for one of the great rackets of the past decade: green seals of approval, whereby some outfit like theSolar Cali Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03706910194041815381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2552188972496867497.post-42203654225788425302008-09-24T12:54:00.000-07:002008-10-20T10:15:24.744-07:00Freeman takes on CavanaghDavid Freeman and Ralph Cavanagh went toe-to-toe in a radio interview on 89.3 KPCC FM, and Freeman ran circles around Cavanagh. This campaign is getting good. Listen through KPCC’s website here and read my analysis below.Host Larry Mantle asked Cavanagh “What is your opposition?” Cavanagh’s responses were:“CA’s leading environmental groups all oppose Prop 7. If our good friend Dave Freeman had Solar Cali Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03706910194041815381noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2552188972496867497.post-78453847415043366432008-09-22T13:58:00.000-07:002008-09-22T14:04:35.855-07:00Wrong on Deregulation, Wrong on Prop 7One of the fascinating aspects of unraveling the No on 7 campaign has been the recurring connection between the characters who fought for and then defended a deregulated electricity market in CA – that ultimately led to an energy crisis and rolling black outs - and the characters who oppose Prop 7 today.
I’ve detailed extensively on how the Natural Resources Defense Council played a critical Solar Cali Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03706910194041815381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2552188972496867497.post-34135325223973295532008-09-22T12:22:00.000-07:002008-10-20T10:16:15.291-07:00PG&E, Edison & Sempra Enabler ExposedThe only funding for the No on Prop 7 campaign is the jaw-dropping $27 million from PG&E, So Cal Edison, and Sempra. So I was of course interested in the revelation that Southern California Edison was fined $146 million for violations associated with rigged customer satisfaction surveys and falsified safety data. The Pasadena Star News reports that:“Edison employees and management manipulatedSolar Cali Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03706910194041815381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2552188972496867497.post-21578502693520689972008-09-20T01:18:00.000-07:002008-10-20T10:17:22.643-07:00Politics vs. Science – Who Wins?*** Update: Here is a link to the actual letter - http://www.yeson7.net/images/Heeger-and-Kohn-Prop7.pdf.I got word today that three Nobel laureates – world renowned leaders in renewable energy science – sent a joint letter to the ‘environmental’ groups opposed to Prop 7 to quit being so short-sighted and to quit misreading the law proposed by the measure. I can’t word it as well as they did, so Solar Cali Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03706910194041815381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2552188972496867497.post-23978570786817350332008-09-17T13:31:00.000-07:002008-09-17T13:57:43.343-07:00NRDC - PG&E Love FestOK – this can no longer be called simple tit-for-tat. This is an out-and-out love fest between NRDC’s Ralph Cavanagh and Pacific Gas and Electric:From a January, 2007 press release from PG&E:WASHINGTON, D.C. – Speaking today at the National Press Club, Peter A. Darbee, Chairman, CEO and President of PG&E Corporation (NYSE: PCG) urged federal policy makers to take a series of actions aimedSolar Cali Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03706910194041815381noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2552188972496867497.post-59759040200003275272008-09-17T12:27:00.000-07:002008-09-17T12:37:12.731-07:00Don't Be a Sheep!The prevelance of proof that the Big Utilities have their tentacles in every group opposed to Prop 7 has become something of a joke. Just check out PG&E's grant list, or the contributions that the CA Democratic and Republican parties have received by visiting the Secretary of State's site. Or - just look around this blog, where I've got links to all that stuff. Anyway, it's become such a joke Solar Cali Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03706910194041815381noreply@blogger.com2