L.A. Debates Measure B on Solar Power
Renewable energy — By Stephanie on March 1, 2009 at 11:18 am
Measure B can help address L.A. smog
In just 2 days, voters in Los Angeles will go to the polls to decide another controversial issue. On March 3, Measure B is up for a decision. It would require the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power to make significant steps towards renewable energy conversion. Solar panels that can generate 400 MW of power must be installed around the City by 2014 if the measure passes.
This could be the first of several steps to alleviate the heavy smog that hangs over the City of Angels. By mandating a switch to solar power, the hope is that L.A. can eventually wean itself off coal. The city relies on more fossil-fuel based electricity than any other California city. In addition to the positive environmental effects, the measure will also help provide green jobs to help boost the local economy.
More jobs, less smog, cleaner air. That all sounds great to me. In fact, the drafters of the legislation know how to package the proposed law for today’s voters. “Measure B” doesn’t capture the potential here. But the “Green Energy and Good Jobs for Los Angeles Act” sounds like its worth voting for!
What’s the catch?
Well, let’s review both sides of the debate. People that are opposed to Measure B claim that they are generally in support of solar energy. They say that its more about the issue of how to pay for it.
Do you believe that?
PRO:
CON:
Will L.A. vote yes on Measure B?
The City’s Mayor, Antonio Villaraigosa, will vote yes on the measure. Many environmental groups and the American Lung Association are in support of it. On the other hand, the Los Angeles Times is against Green Energy and Good Jobs, arguing that it would result in a monopoly for the utility, among other things.
The real cost of the Measure, should it pass, cannot be quantified. One thing that we know for sure is that it would add 2%-4% to City utility bills. But you cannot easily translate the cut in greenhouse gas emissions to a real dollar figure.
What is the price you would pay to enjoy cleaner air? Maybe you could run farther. Perhaps you could see the ocean more clearly? In fact, maybe you would still have a shoreline to enjoy if the brakes are put on overall global climate change.
Opponents say that the measure would only benefit foreign solar panel manufacturers. But I simply cannot see how cutting back on use of fossil fuels in one of the largest cities in the United States would not be viewed as beneficial across the board.
It’s not up to me. It’s up to the voters in L.A. Let’s see what Tuesday brings.
Tags: green energy and good jobs for los angeles, measure B, solar power in Los Angeles
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5 Comments
I think that it is misleading for you to tell your readers that using solar will clean the air in Los Angeles. As someone that has asthma, I would love to have cleaner air. I did not get asthma until I was in my 40’s – it could be because of the air quality.
I am a member of the CLCV, the Sierra Club, and over the years I have supported groups such as the Nature Conservancy, the NRDC, and even Jane Goodall. I could not be a stronger proponent for the environment.
Measure B or “Charter Amendment B” could actually prevent solar from being implemented inside of the City. By requiring IBEW contractors it raises the prices. If it has to be implemented quickly, that could require importation from China or Thailand. We will not necessarily get the state of the art thin film solar if we rush this.
We will have solar from a 500 MW plant that will be built out in the desert. The total 1280 MW that the LADWP is planning will take a while – hopefully all of the Solar, Geothermal, and Wind plans will be in place by 2020.
But currently, we import most our energy from out of state from coal fired plants and natural gas. They will not shut those plants down when we implement solar. And they will not shut down the plants that are in Los Angeles that use other fuels. Those facilities will need to stay online for backup. Because when the sun goes down, the solar in the City will go off too. The only solar plant that will have the capability for storing energy is the 500 MW system in the desert. And that will be a long time in coming.
If you truly want to improve the air quality in Los Angeles, you need to address the sources of pollution that are here. On big source is the Los Angeles Harbor. Changing the energy those ships use when in our harbor will help there.
Then there are the trucks that go to the harbor – some of those trucks are running on cleaner fuels – we need to work on that.
We need to encourage the removal of heavily polluting vehicles from our roads. We need to find ways to move everyone to more efficient vehicles.
We need to encourage mass transportation and use it. This is one way to clean the air in Los Angeles.
Please let us know the result of the vote on March 5th.
Measure B–yes or no?
Shannon,
We don’t have the results of Measure B yet. The vote on March 3rd came out – 50.3 % for “No on Measure B”. There are still 46,000 votes to be counted – 24,000 which were Absentee ballots that came in on election day, 12,000 provisional ballots because a lot of people went to the wrong polling places for a lot of reasons. There were 10,000 damaged ballots. We should have the count by the 19th – hopefully it will hold up for the “No” camp.
The people who opposed Measure B are the Neighborhood Council members, the Chambers of Commerce, labor groups, etc.
We want solar in our City, we just want it done right. We don’t want to change our City Charter without our permission – which is what Measure B did.
We want money from the Federal Stimulus Package to help create a comprehensive alternative energy plan. We can’t afford higher LADWP bills – we have 12% unemployment in Los Angeles.
So we are hoping to have a “seat at the table” to work out these plans with the City Council and the LADWP.
No matter what the final outcome is, we were able to show the City Council that we were capable of organizing in a two month period of time. I think that they are listening – we’ll see.
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