New Zealand Celsias

In a bid to halt Proposition 23 (a baillot measure that aims to block California's climate legislation 'AB32' in the November elections), an alliance of California business, labour, environmental, and community leaders have joined together to put forth The California Apollo Programme  — a comprehensive strategy for creating clean energy jobs in California.

In 2006, Californian Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed and passed the AB 32 legislation, the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006, which set the 2020 greenhouse gas emissions reduction goal into law.

The aim of Proposition 23 is to suspend State laws requiring reduced greenhouse gas emissions that cause global warming, until California’s unemployment rate drops to 5.5 percent or less for four consecutive quarters. It requires the State to abandon implementation of comprehensive greenhouse-gas-reduction programme that includes increased renewable energy and cleaner fuel requirements, and mandatory emission reporting and fee requirements for major polluters such as power plants and oil refineries, until suspension is lifted.

But while the ongoing economic recession has dragged down even the strongest economies, and while at the outset of the recession the overall employment in California dropped for the first time in five years, jobs in California's clean energy economy grew by 5 percent.

"By implementing The California Apollo Programme we will be making the right moves to secure our economic future, retain our global leadership in clean energy and technological innovation, and engage the workers and businesses who can keep the world's eighth largest economy growing," says Phil Angelides, chairman of the national Apollo Alliance.

If California's climate law withstands  the challenge of November's ballot initiative and is implemented as scheduled, it is expected to generate up to $104 (NZ$146) billion in economic activity by 2020, according to the Apollo Programme.

“We can’t afford to quit on California’s best opportunity to create jobs and ensure a more prosperous decade-expansion of California’s clean energy economy,” says Lisa Hoyos, coordinator of the California Apollo Alliance.

The California Apollo Programme outlines how the state can create and keep clean energy jobs. Some of the recommendations include:

Transforming the Way California Generates and Uses Energy

• Realise the economic opportunity of California’s groundbreaking comprehensive climate law.
• Generate 33 percent of the California’s power from renewable sources by 2020 and prioritise in-state production.
• Upgrade California’s existing buildings to world class energy efficiency standards and ensure that new construction is “green.”
• Modernise the power grid to support clean energy generation and smart grid technology.
• Require smart, sustainable and equitable approaches to land use as California’s communities grow.
• Revitalise rural California by expanding environmentally sustainable renewable energy and carbon sequestration projects.

Maintaining California’s Global Leadership in the Clean Energy Economy

• Invest in clean energy research and development.
• Target public and private support toward commercialisation of new technologies.
• Support public-private research and development partnerships.
• Provide sufficient and stable support for California’s institutions of higher education.

Making It in California, by Californians

• Help manufacturers retool their factories and retrain their employees to produce clean energy products.
• Revamp California’s transportation manufacturing industry to meet growing demand for high-efficiency vehicles.
• Invest in next-generation alternative fuels and California’s low-carbon fuel infrastructure.
• Modernise California’s transportation infrastructure to connect our neighborhoods, cities and rural areas with world-class transit systems.
• Promote “Buy California” and “Buy America” policies.
• Recycle and reuse it in California.

Creating Economic Prosperity for All and Tapping the Skills and Productivity of California’s Workforce

• Train California’s workers to meet the demands of the clean energy economy.
• Ensure that the transition to a clean energy economy creates pathways out of poverty.
• Prioritise the creation of good, family-supporting jobs.

Image: Flickr - codepinkhq