tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25521889724968674972011-04-21T16:18:16.649-07:00Let'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.comBlogger421100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2552188972496867497.post-66631166690242949472009-03-04T16:41:00.001-08:002009-03-04T23:03:03.869-08:00

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-7413175269376987812009-02-13T19:49:00.000-08:002009-02-13T21:32:02.470-08:00

It’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-69543570402885713542008-11-09T00:26:00.000-08:002008-11-09T22:22:30.730-08:00

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 didn't

Solar Cali Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03706910194041815381noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2552188972496867497.post-5721877661425591582008-11-04T08:32:00.000-08:002008-11-04T08:57:30.676-08:00

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-18520821024416250292008-11-03T18:20:00.000-08:002008-11-03T19:01:59.486-08:00

I 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-59505408297401138442008-10-31T09:12:00.000-07:002008-10-31T09:13:05.639-07:00

One more video for Halloween. This one's spooky!

Solar Cali Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03706910194041815381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2552188972496867497.post-59717133771785782342008-10-31T08:44:00.000-07:002008-10-31T09:10:13.936-07:00

I’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-90925707104822236932008-10-26T11:58:00.000-07:002008-10-26T15:14:51.505-07:00

There 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 share

Solar Cali Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03706910194041815381noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2552188972496867497.post-30674770661872278962008-10-25T17:22:00.000-07:002008-10-25T17:33:35.388-07:00

The 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 18th.

Solar Cali Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03706910194041815381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2552188972496867497.post-89327409751882155552008-10-20T20:45:00.001-07:002008-10-20T20:45:54.018-07:00

Solar Cali Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03706910194041815381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2552188972496867497.post-83220894732520480702008-10-20T12:38:00.001-07:002008-10-22T11:50:09.431-07:00

Just 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 debates

Solar Cali Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03706910194041815381noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2552188972496867497.post-21791480660289621052008-10-18T17:30:00.000-07:002008-10-18T17:54:36.089-07:00

With 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

I 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-78359463001952418882008-10-13T15:29:00.000-07:002008-10-20T10:15:24.743-07:00

Looks 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 down

Solar Cali Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03706910194041815381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2552188972496867497.post-91251016807342167842008-10-10T19:28:00.000-07:002008-10-10T19:34:30.571-07:00

After 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-4651338788371842882008-10-08T11:47:00.000-07:002008-10-08T11:51:21.592-07:00

Now 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 Renewables

Solar Cali Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03706910194041815381noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2552188972496867497.post-69981223034043780752008-10-04T00:08:00.000-07:002008-10-20T10:16:15.290-07:00

The 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

In 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

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 the

Solar Cali Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03706910194041815381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2552188972496867497.post-42203654225788425302008-09-24T12:54:00.000-07:002008-10-20T10:15:24.744-07:00

David 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-78453847415043366432008-09-22T13:58:00.000-07:002008-09-22T14:04:35.855-07:00

One 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-34135325223973295532008-09-22T12:22:00.000-07:002008-10-20T10:16:15.291-07:00

The 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 manipulated and

Solar Cali Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03706910194041815381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2552188972496867497.post-21578502693520689972008-09-20T01:18:00.000-07:002008-10-20T10:17:22.643-07:00

*** 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-23978570786817350332008-09-17T13:31:00.000-07:002008-09-17T13:57:43.343-07:00

OK – 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 aimed at

Solar Cali Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03706910194041815381noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2552188972496867497.post-59759040200003275272008-09-17T12:27:00.000-07:002008-09-17T12:37:12.731-07:00

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.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2552188972496867497.post-2993387708810434602008-09-14T12:33:00.000-07:002008-10-20T10:15:24.746-07:00

As this blog has detailed at great length, the No on Prop 7 opponents largely have political and financial interests in opposing Prop 7, with many of the “environmental” groups taking hundreds of thousands of dollars from the Big Utilities funding the No campaign and having overlapping board memberships.Outside of the political hubbub, however, you find that scientists, lawyers, and industry

Solar Cali Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03706910194041815381noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2552188972496867497.post-10042008812114948352008-09-13T16:15:00.000-07:002008-09-13T16:26:33.034-07:00

This (clearly home made) video is a little hokey but really, really funny. It probably came out in response to the commercials airing right now against Proposition 7. I don't know if you guys noticed, but if you see the commercial, check out the very end. The 'environmentalists' that oppose Prop. 7 are listed just above the caveat "major funding from PG&E and Southern Cal Edison." Anyway - enjoy

Solar Cali Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03706910194041815381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2552188972496867497.post-82969768177466221082008-09-13T16:04:00.000-07:002008-09-13T16:26:07.161-07:00

Doug Korthof hit the nail on the head today in the Orange Coast Voice when he asked the question: “Why does everybody hate clean energy?”I’ve framed this blog in the context of Proposition 7, but Korthof eloquently reminds us that the groups opposed to Prop.7 are the groups who have a vested interest in keeping solar and clean energy from taking off.I certainly disagree with his criticism of

Solar Cali Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03706910194041815381noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2552188972496867497.post-76510128075082618212008-09-10T19:28:00.000-07:002008-09-13T16:26:07.162-07:00

Periodically on this blog I’ve talked about questionable activities by Big Utilities in other states, like when Colorado’s Xcel spent millions trying to quash a measure in 2004 much like CA’s Prop 7. This week, the Center for Media and Democracy posted a very interesting story from Houston that made me think of our David and Goliath epic that’s happening right now in CA. As you probably figured

Solar Cali Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03706910194041815381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2552188972496867497.post-78116752240215107732008-09-08T10:42:00.000-07:002008-10-20T10:16:15.292-07:00

I’ve spent a great deal of time on this blog trying to illuminate the connection between Big Utilities and the actors opposing Proposition 7, including the state’s democratic and republican parties and a few big environmental groups. While I think the evidence I’ve unearthed so far is overwhelmingly suggestive of a tit-for-tat relationship, in which the enviros speak for the needs of the Big

Solar Cali Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03706910194041815381noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2552188972496867497.post-41352324815422918732008-09-04T21:43:00.000-07:002008-09-13T16:26:07.163-07:00

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

Solar Cali Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03706910194041815381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2552188972496867497.post-6776921465533980012008-09-02T11:53:00.000-07:002008-10-20T10:17:22.644-07:00

I came upon this podcast the other day, and found it was really helpful in understanding why the alleged size restriction that the No on Prop 7 folks are campaigning on is a false interpretation of language in the initiative. In case you missed it, the ad that the Big Utilities are airing claims that Prop 7 has a "competition elimination" provision. I scoured Prop 7 and found no such language -

Solar Cali Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03706910194041815381noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2552188972496867497.post-22586213596270069902008-08-26T22:18:00.000-07:002008-09-13T16:26:07.165-07:00

The California Majority Report put up a post this morning that regurgitates the false and misleading lies in a television commercial airing against Prop 7. The author of the post toed the Big Utility line. I immediately registered so that I could leave a comment/rebuttal, which follows:What a disappointment to see the California Majority Report joining the Big Utilities’ rank and file advocates

Solar Cali Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03706910194041815381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2552188972496867497.post-57520502213863076422008-08-25T10:32:00.000-07:002008-10-20T10:18:29.218-07:00

Well, this is interesting. An editorial in the Los Angeles Times decries the Legislature for its inability to act on AB 411, the bill that would increase the current RPS requirement to 33% by 2020, pointing out that even current law (AB 32) doesn’t bring CA to an acceptable goal for cutting greenhouse gases.It would be all but impossible for the state to meet its goal of cutting greenhouse gases

Solar Cali Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03706910194041815381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2552188972496867497.post-15300486505510310842008-08-24T15:01:00.000-07:002008-09-13T16:26:07.166-07:00

I couldn’t help but notice that the Utility-Shill enviros are hyper-sensitive for getting called out as utility shills. That’s probably because they’ve had an extremely lucrative racket for decades: adopt a go-along, get-along attitude with the utilities, and the utilities reward them with thousands of dollars to do things like study polar bears. (Don’t misread that last statement, I love polar

Solar Cali Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03706910194041815381noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2552188972496867497.post-68710340194584126892008-08-23T21:39:00.000-07:002008-09-13T16:26:07.167-07:00

This is how serious Pacific Gas and Electric and the other Big Utilities in CA are about defeating Prop. 7: They contributed $24 million dollars to the No on Prop 7 campaign. Compare that to the total giving by electric utilities to candidates in the 2004 and 2005 election cycles: $30.3 million. That’s right, the Big Utilities in CA are spending almost as much as all the nation’s electric

Solar Cali Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03706910194041815381noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2552188972496867497.post-24211213566829646372008-08-20T01:20:00.001-07:002008-09-13T16:26:07.168-07:00

The utility-shill NRDC is on the attack against Prop. 7. My response is posted below:Dear Craig Noble,Please take this in the most respectful manner possible. Before you regurgitate the talking points of another organization, I suggest you (1) READ the initiative you are lamenting before you add your name to the opposition and (2) do a little bit of research on the organizations whose opposition

Solar Cali Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03706910194041815381noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2552188972496867497.post-91992485615616181712008-08-18T12:19:00.000-07:002008-09-13T16:26:07.169-07:00

There’s a good Washington Post article today that talks about the success of a 2004 ballot initiative in Colorado that required utilities to produce 10% of their electricity from renewable energy sources: When Colorado voters were deciding whether to require that 10 percent of the state's electricity come from renewable fuels, the state's largest utility fought the proposal, warning that any

Solar Cali Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03706910194041815381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2552188972496867497.post-9001388166886125292008-08-15T15:37:00.000-07:002008-09-13T16:26:07.169-07:00

Based on the spin coming from the No on Prop 7 campaign, one would think that every enviro in the state is running scared from Prop. 7. It’s not too surprising though. $24 million (so far) in Big Utility money can buy an industrial-strength megaphone. So I was glad to see that a coherent description of the proposition by an environmental law expert found its way to the surface. A preview: Prop.

Solar Cali Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03706910194041815381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2552188972496867497.post-17727939037074730842008-08-14T18:45:00.000-07:002008-09-13T16:26:07.171-07:00

Jeez, day one on the blog and there is already so much to write about. Someone emailed me an article from Greenwire discussing the NRDC – PG&E connection. Cavanagh apparently ‘bristled’ at the accusation that they had ever taken money from the Big Utilities (subscription required).And the coziness charge? "It's absurd," Cavanagh said. "NRDC is fiercely independent from the utility industry and

Solar Cali Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03706910194041815381noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2552188972496867497.post-70438637173715141882008-08-14T18:05:00.000-07:002008-09-02T12:10:12.980-07:00

There was a post over at calitics the other day in response to the BeyondChron article that points out the environmental groups opposing Prop. 7 all receive substantial funds from the Big Utilities. The person posting – who admitted he does ‘some work’ for the No on 7 campaign (read – he gets paid by the Big Utilities himself) stated “ I have confirmed with several of the groups that they have

Solar Cali Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03706910194041815381noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2552188972496867497.post-51540659909780437152008-08-14T17:59:00.000-07:002008-09-13T16:26:07.172-07:00

Why would the Democratic Party, the National Resources Defense Council, and the League of Conservation Voters all oppose Proposition 7, the Solar and Clean Energy Act of 2008 – which would require utilities to produce 50% of their electricity from CLEAN and RENEWABLE sources like WIND, GEOTHERMAL, and SOLAR by 2025? Why would supposedly credible ‘leaders’ within CA’s environmental movement go

Solar Cali Girlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03706910194041815381noreply@blogger.com2