Alternative Energy for a Better California

As Published In the UCLA Anderson Forecast: Solutions For Our State, March 2008

California is a global economic powerhouse with a population of 38 million trending, by US Census Bureau estimates, toward 50 million in 2025. Like many thriving economies, our state has its share of problems: poor air quality and an increasing appetite for energy to name just two. But these particular problems have the potential to dramatically affect the quality of life and economic stability of California’s residents.

The negative effects of poor air quality have long been documented in scientific and medical journals. Recent studies published by the Journal of the American Medical Association and the Surface Transportation Policy Partnership associate transportationrelated air pollution, specifically ozone and particulate matter from motor vehicles, with severe asthma and other respiratory illnesses. Health impact studies also show that compromised air quality can increase the risk of heart disease and cancer. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) approximately half of all cancers attributed to outdoor sources are caused by pollution from automobiles. As healthcare costs continue to increase, the added number of pollution related illnesses can and will cause additional strain on the state’s already overextended medical infrastructure.

To limit inefficient and polluting vehicles on our roadways, the state could benefit from a revamped car registration plan that provides incentives for cleaner, more efficientvehicles. I propose a automobile registration scheme that gives a rebate to efficient, lowpolluting vehicles while taxing gas-guzzlers. Why not take into account a car’s averagemiles per gallon and the quantity of emissions it produces? This would encourage California’s population to buy more environmentally friendly cars and would provide automotive manufacturers with an incentive to build them. The State could easily put this program in place using readily available data put out by the EPA, and revenues generated by a car registration program could then be invested in incentives for alternative energy.

Why does the state need to invest in alternative energy? Because as California’s population grows, so does its appetite for energy, and increasing energy demand means more pollution, greater concentrations of greenhouse gasses and continued dependence on foreign oil. Volatility in the energy market in our state can and already has caused rolling blackouts and economic woes including inflation and historically, recessions. It is important that California continue to lead the nation with its energy and environmental legislation, and its recent efforts to jumpstart the solar sector with the California Solar Initiative seem to be helping. Put in place just a year ago, this visionary program has put in place over 200 megawatts of renewable power. Early signs suggest this could be a model program for the state. Funds generated from the above mentioned car registration program could broaden the Solar Initiative into a California Energy Initiative. This enhanced program would add renewable or energy efficiency technologies each year such as small wind power, enhanced lighting and improved building cooling. Like the Solar Initiative’s goal, the expanded program would strive to make each new alternative energy sector into a self-sufficient industry.

For too long, the state and federal governments have adopted a laissez-faire attitude in waiting for environmentally friendly technologies to gain enough ground to compete with more entrenched energy concerns. How much more environmental impact and economic mismanagement must we suffer before we finally encourage the state to prod cleaner technologies into a position where it can compete and flourish? The survival of our quality of life, our economy, our jobs and, ultimately, our California depends on our making a change.