De León’s bill—or rather, the legislative package—would ask Californians to double our energy efficiency, get half of our power from renewable sources and cut our oil use in half by 2030.

Our only complaint about this legislation? That it will only be in force in California.

Latino lawmakers, who have increasingly flexed their muscle as a voting bloc in the Capitol, endorsed a slate of proposals Wednesday that includes efforts to increase voter registration and promote clean energy.

The package underscores how the lawmakers are broadening their focus from core issues such as immigration to economic and environmental policies as well.

“The issues that the Latino legislators care about are issues that matter to all Californians,” said Assemblyman Luis Alejo (D-Watsonville), chairman of the California Latino Legislative Caucus.

Billionaire environmentalist Tom Steyer came to Sacramento on Tuesday to promote a wholesale expansion of air quality regulations promoted by the governor and Senate leader Kevin de León.

The bill by Sen. Kevin de León would set policies in motion to cut petroleum use in cars and trucks by on half, double energy-efficiency retrofits in buildings and increase from one third to one half the amount of energy California derives from renewable sources.

The measure, by Sens. Kevin De Leon (D-Los Angeles) and Mark Leno (D-San Francisco), is the most complex of the four pieces of climate change legislation introduced by Senate Democrats and it contains some of the most far-reaching objectives set by Gov. Jerry Brown in his inaugural address in January.

Steyer, who sat alongside De Leon at the Senate energy committee hearing, said the sweeping proposal "dramatically reshapes California's economy and breaks the stranglehold of fossil fuels to the benefit of all Californians."

California’s great middle is a land set apart. No valley is more vast, no soil is more fertile, and tragically, no air is more polluted.

As a landscape of paradox, the San Joaquin Valley is a region where poverty and bounty sit side by side. This situation has been aggravated by state and federal investments that have historically focused elsewhere. The unique challenges of the Valley have been too often overlooked in Sacramento and Washington.

When I look at California’s increasingly post-industrial economy, renewable energy and clean technology are not simply smart for the environment, they are currently the fastest growing job sectors and I cannot help but see a giant opportunity for cities in the Valley. 

Clean technology companies in California are creating more jobs and investing more money than competitors in any other state. We need to make sure this economic boom reaches the Valley.

When Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de León earlier this month announced an aggressive clean-energy agenda for California, he made a special point of asserting it would reach into all of the state's communities, not just those of coastal environmentalists.

With the United Nations Climate Change Conference on the horizon this December in Paris, California could be poised to lead the nation on climate policy.

Leaders of the California state senate last week introduced a package of four bills to sharply cut the use of fossil fuel in the state while boosting the use of renewable energy and requiring more energy efficient buildings.

California Senate Pro-Tem Kevin de Leon announced the introduction of the bills at a press conference Tuesday at the state capitol, flanked by Democratic colleagues, renewable energy entrepreneurs, environmental leaders, consumer advocates, labor representatives, and workers in hard hats employed in the renewable energy sector.

This week, California legislators unveiled a suite of new bills to shrink the state’s environmental footprint.

Among them is a pledge to cut gasoline use by 50% by the year 2030.

It’s ambitious, but it’s the target to go after. California is the second-largest emitter in the country, and transportation is by far its largest source of emissions, at nearly 60 percent.

They say one person’s trash is another person’s treasure. At our company, Anaergia, we take that concept to extremes. We turn sewage and landfill waste into energy.

We’ve done projects around the world, but our American headquarters are here in California, and that’s no accident. The state’s pioneering energy and pollution policies give clear market signals that other states cannot match. If you’re building a business in the fast-growing clean technology sector, there’s no place in the United States you’d rather be. 

I’m visiting the wonderful folks from Sustainable Tucson in Arizona next week to talk about the opportunities that solar and clean energy offer their local economy. In preparation, I’m looking at their current monopoly electricity provider, Tucson Electric Power. Remarkably, the utility acquires just 4% of its electricity from renewable resources (and over 70% from coal), despite being at the heart of the best sunshine in the country. The red arrow shows Tucson on this map of the nation’s solar resource.

Despite a world-class resource, the city’s utility intends to avoid major solar investment by pretending it is too costly.