Those voters who value the environment have some clear choices
in the upcoming general election. While this single issue will
probably not be the only criteria for selecting a candidate, it
should be a part of the process.
Those voters who value the environment have some clear choices in the upcoming general election. While this single issue will probably not be the only criteria for selecting a candidate, it should be a part of the process.
The race for state Senate District 15 has two candidates, Assemblyman Abel Maldonado, a Republican, and San Luis Obispo County Supervisor Peg Pinard, a Democrat, who claim the environment as one of their top three priorities.
The third official candidate, Green Brook Madsen, withdrew from the race and announced his support for Pinard.
If you look beyond the simple public statement, you find that only Pinard has gathered the endorsement of any person or organization identified with environmental issues. It is hard to find anything to substantiate Maldonado’s claim of environmental concern.
If you examine the legislation that the assemblyman has introduced since being in office, you find that he has consistently introduced and supported legislation that favors business incentives in areas where environmental issues should be of concern. The best example is his introduction and support of AB 1869 giving sales and use tax exemption to those large corporations involved in space activity, including the manufacture of rocket fuel.
Local government is supported by sales and use taxes. Local government and special districts such as the Santa Clara County Water District also bear significant cost for the identification and clean up of such contaminants as perchlorate, a byproduct of making rocket fuel. There seems to be a disconnect between the “I am for the environment” rhetoric of Assemblyman Maldonado and the reality of his legislative record.
On the other hand, Pinard has been a mayor and country supervisor and knows full well the impact such misguided legislation would have on local government and their ability to guarantee a clean environment to their citizens. While not the definitive issue in this race, I believe that the advantage Pinard has on this issue should tip the balance for undecided voters.
In the congressional race, there is no question but that any voter with an interest in environmental issues should vote for Democrat Jerry McNerney rather than the incumbent Republican Richard Pombo. I have spent some time in looking at the record of Pombo and recording my impressions on a BLOG, PomboWatch, on my personal website.
I have come to the conclusion that our Congressman is probably a good person. When he has had the opportunity to do what is right on a personal level there is nothing in his record that one can quarrel with. Any movement toward settlement of the Indian Trust Fund issue was largely due to Pombo’s doing the right thing.
Congressman Pombo has also been effective at delivering federal funds to his district to assist cleaning up the perchlorate contamination in the South Valley. This is what we would expect from any congressional representative. The fact the he is the chairman of the House Committee on Resources made it relatively easy to deliver.
However, when faced with decisions that effect the environment and in particular those decisions which effect the natural resources belonging to our government, Pombo has invariably made the decision to support short term economic advantage rather than to consider the long term consequences of resource use. If I were jaded and cynical, I might think that Pombo was taking his direction from the large corporations that support him and fund some of the quasi citizen organizations whose support he touts. But I am not so cynical. I believe that he understands that taking credit for short term economic advantages is one easy way to secure re-election.
There is no other issue that illustrates what I am talking about more than the question of oil drilling in the Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge. Touted as a means of freeing the US for dependency on foreign oil, the refuge will deliver only a very small percentage of what would be required to accomplish that task. If Pombo had taken a long-range view it would have been clear that improvements in automobile fuel economy would have had just as great an impact.
The United States should find a way out of this oil dependency. We should be saving our oil reserves for times of absolute emergency and focusing our scientific effort on the development of a hydrogen based transportation system. The small country of Iceland has set a target of becoming totally free of fossil fuels. If they can accomplish this, why is Representative Pombo leading us on another path.
His opponent, Jerry McNerney, is a respected engineer with experience in alternative energy sources. He has the experience and understanding to be guiding energy policies that are appropriate for a future without abundant oil.
The current policies coming out of Pombo’s Resource Committee are aimed at using up what oil we have as quickly as possible with no plan for what to do when we get there.
On Tuesday I will be voting for energy self-reliance and real environmental action. I will vote for Pinard for state Senate and McNerney for Congress.
Wes Rolley is an artist and concerned citizen. The Board of Contributors is comprised of local writers whose views appear on Tuesdays and Saturdays.
