California
is a leader in environmental practices and most importantly, innovative
thinking. When our state — in bipartisan fashion — put into place the
nation’s most aggressive policies to spur the development of clean
energy and reduce air pollution as a means of preserving our resources
and increasing our ability to create alternative fuels to apply to our
work four years ago, it was a giant step in economic development.
In part because of these policies, our state is home to the largest
collection of life science companies in the United States with over
1,377 companies and over 100,000 employees. More than 6,000 new jobs
were created in our sector in just in the past 12 months, many of them
in the development of alternative bio-fuels that are the direct result
of California’s leadership.
Yet this bright spot in California’s economy is being threatened. Texas
oil companies are heavily financing Proposition 23, which would
essentially reverse our new clean energy policy while debilitating
California’s biotech industry. To justify their positions, these big
oil companies are polluting the air with rhetoric.
Here are the facts about their proposition and why we must oppose it.
First, the Dirty Energy Proposition will hurt the health of Californians.
Air pollution is a major threat to public health in California, with
alarming rates of asthma and lung disease, especially among children.
Each year, California’s air pollution crisis contributes to 19,000
premature deaths, hundreds of thousands of asthma attacks, and
thousands of trips to the hospital for California families.
Second, the Dirty Energy Proposition will continue our addiction to oil.
Rather than look to the future with hope, Proposition 23 tries to hold
onto the past with fear. Simply put, these Texas oil companies want to
us to continue down the dead end road of oil consumption, using old
technology and old ideas. Have the sponsors of the Dirty Energy
Proposition seen the number of new jobs in California created
specifically to developing cleaner, greener fuels? This economic boost
is a direct result of our efforts to wean ourselves off oil.
And finally, the Dirty Energy Proposition will kill jobs.
Hundreds of thousands of new jobs and billions of dollars in
investments are dependent on California’s ability to perform as a world
leader. If we damage that image, we damage our ability to create jobs
and encourage industry growth. For example, from 2005-09, the emerging
clean technology sector (which life science companies work with
frequently to create alternative bio-fuels) has received $9 billion in
venture capital investment. That’s more than five times our nearest
competitor, Massachusetts. And there are now more than 12,000 clean
tech companies in California and some 500,000 employees who work in
green jobs.
We know we can’t continue to be the world leader in innovation if
Proposition 23 is put into effect. We have to create and nurture new
ideas, new approaches and new technologies. That’s what California is
all about.
Our message to the Texas oil companies trying to undo our law is this:
don’t mess with California. Leave your big oil policies in Texas.
We’re busy creating a brighter future here in California.