In 2001, Texas energy companies created an energy crisis in California for their own financial gain. In 2010, they're doing it again. Now they've paid to place an initiative, Proposition 23, on the November ballot that threatens the implementation of our landmark climate change law (AB 32, passed in 2006). Don't let them do it - tell your friends to vote no on Proposition 23!!!

California has long been a national leader in promoting energy efficiency and clean air. The state is also a leader in the fight against climate change, thanks to 2006 legislation, AB 32, that set goals for reducing the state's greenhouse gas emissions. With the support for renewable energy that AB 32 provides, California attracts more investment capital for clean energy than all other 49 states combined.

That will all change if Proposition 23 passes this November. Sponsored by a group of Texas-based oil companies, this proposition would indefinitely delay implementation of AB 32.

The technique is very clever and is ostensibly tied to the state's unemployment rate. If passed, Prop 23 would suspend continued implementation of AB 32 and void any regulations already adopted to implement it until the state's unemployment rate reaches 5.5% or less for four consecutive quarters. While California has achieved that unemployment rate twice in the last two decades (in 2000 and 2006), both of those events were related to boom economies (internet and home mortgages, respectively) that were not sustainable.

The oil companies pushing Prop 23 argue that switching to a renewable energy based economy is a jobs killer. But their real motive is to keep California dependent on the fossil fuels they sell.

In fact, Prop 23 is the real jobs killer because of its impact on our green economy. A report from the Clean Economy Network (pdf) shows that passage of Proposition 23 would halt efforts to increase renewable electricity production, halt energy efficiency and tailpipe emission programs, and deter private equity and venture capital investments in green energy programs in the state. The result will be a loss of jobs in green energy, the fastest growing job sector in the state.

California is uniquely susceptible to the impacts of climate change. Its largest population centers are threatened by sea level rise. Central Valley farms and communities are subject to an increasing number of summer days with temperatures over 100 degrees, and the state's water supply is being permanently changed by reduced snowpacks and increasing seawater influx in the Delta.

California's citizen initiative system was created to counteract the influence of big business over government. It's sad that it is now being used by big business to harm the people of California.

Help defeat the dirty energy proposition! Vote no on Prop 23.

For more information, go to the No on 23 website.