Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger... said over the weekend he would veto the bills and do the job himself through an executive order this week. What gives?
Part of what's at issue affects just California. The bills would limit the amount of out-of-state clean power that utilities could get, which the governor says would hamstring the state's efforts. AP quotes the governor's communications director Matt David: "The poorly drafted, overly complex bills passed by the Legislature are protectionist schemes that will kill the solar industry in California and drive prices up like the failed energy deregulation of the late 1990s."
But there's another aspect of the fight which could have huge implications for the rest of the country, even as the Senate continues debating new energy and climate policies. The L.A. Times reports that Gov. Schwarzenegger is considering including nuclear power as renewable energy:
Environmentalists who have been told about the governor's still-evolving plans said Schwarzenegger also was considering directing the California Air Resources Board to look at broadening the state's definition of renewable energy sources to include large hydroelectric dams and nuclear energy plants.
Read more from Keith Johnson Wall Street Journal Environmental Blogger
Seriously? - Has Governor Schwarzenegger read up on recent nuclear energy costs, fuel reserves, water demands or next GEN reactors? If the answer is yes than he would have a extremely hard time putting together a 'cost benefit analysis' reflecting a prosperous 20 year program over biogas, tidal, geothermal, wind and solar. I know CA is $20 billion in the hole... so please buy him a calculator ;-)