LOS ANGELES, CA – With gasoline prices and energy use reaching record highs and Gov. Schwarzenegger appearing with former President George H.W. Bush just miles away, California State Treasurer and Democratic nominee for Governor Phil Angelides today called for protection from oil company price gouging and expressed his support for Proposition 87 to help free California from the grip of oil companies and move California into a future of clean, alternative fuels.
Angelides, appearing with Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez, announced that as Governor he would sign legislation such as AB 457 (Nunez), which gives California the tools needed to ensure that consumers are never again subjected to profiteering from scheming energy companies. Angelides also criticized Governor Schwarzenegger, who opposes holding oil companies accountable for price gouging and is siding with Big Oil in opposing Proposition 87.
Proposition 87, the Clean Alternative Energy Initiative, would provide $400 million per year over 10 years to reduce California's consumption of petroleum by 25 percent. The initiative would fund needed research and investments to make clean alternative fuels and vehicles just as accessible and affordable to California consumers as regular gasoline and diesel fuels and vehicles are today, by assessing oil companies, who are experiencing record profits, on each barrel of oil they take out of the ground in California.
"The average price of premium gasoline in California today is a whopping $3.55 per gallon, and experts say it may top $4 per gallon in the next few weeks. California's working families – and our fragile economy – are feeling the economic pain of skyrocketing energy prices," said Angelides. "That's why we need both protection from price gouging today, and an opportunity to move beyond the oil economy in the future."
"I support making the oil companies contribute to reduce our oil dependence and make California the global leader in clean energy, cleaner air, cheaper fuel prices, and greater energy independence," Angelides said. "Governor Schwarzenegger and Big Oil are on the wrong side of this issue. Schwarzenegger may have painted his campaign bus green, but it's clear that Big Oil is still behind the wheel driving his agenda."
Angelides noted that California is the only state in the country, and the only oil-producing jurisdiction in the world, where the oil companies don't pay an assessment to reimburse the public for the natural resource they are removing from the ground. Even off-shore in federal waters, beyond California's territorial limit, oil companies pay an assessment to reimburse the federal government.
The measure would not increase gasoline prices which are set by the world marketplace, and the initiative outlaws oil companies from passing this cost along to consumers. The Initiative will also fund clean energy university research centers across the state, as well as vocational training programs to train new workers for the thousands of jobs the clean energy economy will create.
"As Governor, Phil Angelides won't just talk about protecting our environment, he'll do it," said Núñez. "With Phil Angelides in the Governor's office, together we will protect consumers from oil company price gouging, reduce our dependence on oil and give Californians more energy choices."
In the public and private sector, Angelides has always been at the forefront of environmental leadership. As a successful businessman prior to being elected State Treasurer, Angelides was a smart growth pioneer, planning and building the community of Laguna West, near Sacramento, which was featured in the national media as a model of a livable, walkable, environmentally sustainable community. As Treasurer, Angelides launched the Green Wave initiative which has led California's pension funds to invest $1.5 billion in renewable energy and environmental technologies and to push corporations to combat global warming. He has also created innovative programs and policies to curb sprawl, clean-up toxic contamination, promote sustainable development practices, and encourage the development of fuel efficient vehicles. During the course of this campaign, Angelides has released detailed environmental proposals – Clean California and Coast Guard – to reduce oil consumption and protect the coast.
Treasurer Angelides has won numerous awards for his environmental leadership, including Global Green's Local Environmental Leadership Award; the American Planning Association's 2000 Planning Vision California Award; the California League of Conservation Voters' Environmental Leadership Award; and the Congress for the New Urbanism's Lifetime Achievement Award.
To read more about Angelides' environmental priorities, please visit http://www.angelides.com/issues/envir.html.
