Climate Change

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."

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.

When the Legislature and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger worked together to pass Assembly Bill 32, skeptics said we set naive and unrealistic targets and that the California Air Resources Board could not be trusted with its implementation. Yet here we are, well on our way to meeting our carbon reduction targets, with an economy that is stronger than ever.

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 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.

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.