No on California Prop 23: Halting Climate Policy Is the Real Job Killer

Defenders of dirty energy like to pretend that having smarter climate policies (and more support for clean energy) would cost Americans jobs. Not only are they wrong, but – according to prominent business leaders this week [and a new study] – their “deny and delay” tactics are now turning out to be the true job killers.

Business leaders appearing in a town hall style panel this week at the National Clean Energy Summit in Las Vegas, Nevada said that they don’t fear new rules to better control carbon pollution. What they fear is uncertainty about what those rules will be. President and CEO of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Tom Donohue, was joined by billionaire investor T. Boone Pickens, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, and John Podesta, the President and CEO of the Center for American Progress. One word was repeated the most throughout the entire afternoon session: certainty.

“We’ve got to get certainty,” Donohue said. “People want to invest and make money. Tell us what the deal is, and let’s get on with it!”  Every panelist agreed that certainty was the name of the game for businesses and business owners who are struggling in a most uncertain time of national recession.  Investors want certainty as well, so they know what businesses and industries to pour their private capital into, and what kinds of prices they can expect in the medium and long-term.

Unfortunately, America is getting the opposite of certainty – even in places where issues related to climate and clean energy were thought long-settled.

Take California, for example. Leaders in both major parties joined forces and have already passed smart, bi-partisan rules to better control carbon pollution in the state. California’s Global Warming Solutions Act, also known as Assembly Bill 32, or “A.B. 32,” catalyzed billions of dollars in private sector investment in clean energy in the state—creating jobs, businesses, and new technologies. AB 32 sent a clear message to investors and businesses that clean energy will be the future economic engine for California.

It’s no accident that California leads the nation in solar power, as well as in clean energy venture capital.  It is also no accident that California has “the largest clean energy economy of the 50 states” according to a 2009 Pew study. This leadership is a result of state policies providing financial incentives for clean energy development, renewable energy and energy efficiency standards – among others. By implementing far-sighted, predictable rules to support a clean energy transition, the golden state was able to attract clean tech investors and firms.

But Texas oil interests conspired this year to upset the established consensus. They placed on the November ballot a measure to effectively undo the existing climate legislation.

The upcoming vote has introduced wild uncertainty into the state’s policy environment, leaving businesses and investors understandably hesitant to invest more in the state. Thus Proposition 23, a dirty oil, dirty air initiative, threatens to annihilate one of the greatest foundations of business progress and job growth that the state has.

If Certainty is the Name of the Game, Then Proposition 23 is Game Over.

Proposition 23 would destroy half a million jobs in California (many in construction and high-tech manufacturing) by 2020 while costing the state $80 billion in gross domestic product. This number does not even include the $20 billion in GDP growth and 100,000 new clean energy jobs California can create in the next 10 years if its environmental and clean energy policies are upheld (and Proposition 23 is voted down).