Monday, October 27, 2008

California's Prop 7

Never in the history of California politics has there been SUCH overwhelming support AGAINST a proposition, Democrats, Republicans and even the Sierra Club were out against it. I was doing a quick read-through and there was something that jumped out at me. There is a facility in Stanislaus County that produces about 22.5MW of power, that is then sold to PG&E, from the burning of solid waste (trash). Here is an actual line from Prop 7:

"A facility engaged in the combustion of municipal solid waste shall not be considered an eligible renewable energy resource unless it is located in Stanislaus County and was operational prior to September 26, 1996."

I went looking and found some resistance to a renewal of a license to burn said solid waste for a company called Covanta. There is an area called Crow's Landing that is in question. ALL of the major environmental groups are against this company getting a new license... It made me aware of how the parties all were able to come together. A quote from Greenaction shows why the environmentalists are against this license renewal: "Covanta self-described as “waste to energy” facility is a garbage incinerator in Crow's Landing burns about 800 tons per day of solid waste. The incinerator emits dangerous toxic chemicals and toxic metals into the air, including dioxin, one of the most toxic chemicals known to science." In this rare case, I agree with the greenies and everyone else. Vote NO on prop 7, then write to your representatives in the California Legislature and let them know that you will not vote for good policy that allows bad actors like Covanta to pollute and be excluded from regulations by being called an "eligible renewable energy resource".

1 comment:

David said...

Learn more about Covanta
http://www.cjcw.org/