http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2011/0413/Renewable-energy-Will-new-law-help-or-hurt-California-economy
Renewable energy: Will new law help or hurt California economy?
Gov. Jerry Brown has signed legislation requiring California utilities to obtain 33 percent of their electricity from renewable energy sources by 2020.
On Tuesday, Gov. Jerry Brown (D) signed legislation requiring California utilities to obtain 33 percent of their electricity from renewable energy sources by 2020. The current requirement is 20 percent.
Governor Brown, not surprisingly, is optimistic about the economic impact. "This bill will bring many important benefits to California, including stimulating investment in green technologies in the state, creating tens of thousands of new jobs, improving local air quality, promoting energy independence, and reducing greenhouse-gas emissions," he said in signing the bill, known as SB 2X.
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Environmental groups are also applauding the move, although manufacturing groups say the green jobs created will not offset those lost because of increases in electricity costs.
“With one action ... the state can give clean energy investors the green light they need to infuse new life into the state's clean tech economy,” said Jim Metropulos, senior advocate of Sierra Club California, in a statement. His organization has long called on state lawmakers to pass a requirement of at least 33 percent.
But Gino DiCaro, spokesman for the California Manufacturers and Technology Association, sees it differently. The state, he says, has lost a third of its manufacturing jobs – 630,000 – since January 2001, and this new legislation will drive away more jobs than it will create.
California businesses, Mr. DiCaro says, already pay 50 percent more for electricity on average than businesses in the rest of the United States. For manufacturers in particular, electricity expenses make up a substantial portion of their operating budget. As a result, plants are moving or are being created outside the state.
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