While former Assemblymembers Hannah-Beth Jackson and Tony Strickland have both embraced environmentally-friendly rhetoric during this campaign season, only Jackson has the voting record to back it up. But you wouldn't know it based on Strickland's most recent ad:

"Democrats, Republicans, and independents agree, Tony Strickland's fight for renewable energy is changing minds. ... Tony Strickland, independent thinker, renewable energy, changing California's economy."

If Strickland demonstrates an independence streak, it's certainly not away from the anti-environmental policies that have come to define legislative Republicans in recent years. Indeed, the California League of Conservation Voters' scorecards couldn't be more clear, with Jackson averaging a lifetime 98.8 percent score and Strickland averaging threadbare 1.7 percent score. This 97.1 point gap dividing the candidates is noticeably steeper than the divide that exists between Senate Environment and Public Works Chair Barbara Boxer and her immediate predecessor Senator Jim "Global Warming is the Greatest Hoax Ever Perpetrated on the American People" Inhofe, who scored lifetime 88 percent and 4 percent scores respectively.

There's more...

To even the most casual political observers, the name "McCain/Palin Environmental Coalition" might seem somewhat of an oxymoron.
 
That’s because it is.
 
The newly formed "coalition" is making its grand debut today with a press conference in Capitol Park "near the fishpond." Perhaps the event organizers think the idyllic setting of towering pine trees and happy little fish will distract us from John McCain’s abysmal environmental record and his plans that will offer nothing more than a third Bush term when it comes to environmental protection.
 
Let’s first take a look at the coalition and McCain’s record by the numbers:

• 4.5%: The environmental scorecard rating over the last two years of coalition "honorary chair" Assemblyman Mike Villines, as determined by the California League of Conservation Voters -- making Villines a fitting choice to lead the coalition.
• 3.8 Billion: The dollar amount of McCain’s proposed tax cuts for the five largest American oil companies (ExxonMobil, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Valero Energy, and Marathon)...

There's more...

Image courtesy Rainforest Action Network.

Nestled up north, I don't have regular access to the Santa Barbara and Ventura media markets. And that's a good thing too, because if I ever saw former Assemblymember and current senatorial candidate Tony Strickland's new environmental ad in its original form, I'd probably regurgitate my Cheerios, either through laughter, disgust, or a mixture of the two. Luckily, the Courage Campaign has provided us a new, more accurate version, complete with subtitles!

It seems Strickland, with one of the legislature's worst environmental records, is trying to capitalize on high gas prices and a renewed focus on clean green technology to greenwash his own record and pretend to be a champion of the environment. His ad features renewable energy from wind, solar, tidal forces, and even algae, which would make a great and accurate ad from his opponent, former Assemblymember Hannah-Beth Jackson, but from Strickland, the shark jumped awhile ago.

Strickland barely reaches above 0 percent in his lifetime California League of Conservation Voters rating, while Democrats routinely average well above 80 percent. Jackson was of course a very reliable environmental vote. This gives the voters in Senate District 19 a pretty clear choice. They can vote for the environmentalist in action or the environmentalist in ad alone.

Assembly leader Mike Villines apparently is beginning to parrot Tom McClintock when it comes to partisan attacks from the ultra-right.

In an interview with Sanjoaquinvalleyfornia, Villines took aim at Democrats and environmentalists, pulling no punches in an angry interview with a Central Valley reporter. He blamed Democrats for the lack of a water deal and the budget stalemate.

"That's a liberal minority of people these environmentalists, who I call whackos, who are totally out of touch with reality (that) are controlling the legislative process," said Villines of his legislative colleagues who are blocking the large-scale construction of dams that Villines wants to make with taxpayer dollars.

Here's another olive branch from Villines in the interview, talking about Democrats and predicting the GOP would win seats if the redistricting measure passes: "They are totally out of touch with reality. Their main issues are gay marriage, no reservoirs, no taxes. This is not mainstream California. They are out of touch."

Way to win friends and influence people there, Mike, especially during sensitive budget talks.

It’s encouraging to be hearing from so many Californians who want to do something about cleaning-up the plastic bag litter instead of just complaining or ignoring it. Here’s another editorial published today in the Ventura County Star supporting my Assembly Bill 2058, the toughest plastic bag reduction bill in the nation:

"If you aren't already recycling plastic grocery bags, now might be a good time to get into the habit. If not, look forward to paying for each bag used to haul your groceries home.

A bill that would have allowed stores to charge 25 cents for each plastic bag has stalled in the Legislature. However, an Assembly committee on Monday approved a proposal by Assemblyman Lloyd Levine, D-Van Nuys, to give grocery chains and large drug stores three years to increase plastic-bag recycling by 35 percent. By 2013, stores would have to demonstrate a 70 percent recycling increase. If they don't reach those staggered targets, they would be required to charge customers 15 cents a bag.

When merchants in Ireland started charging 33 cents a bag in 2002, use of plastic bags plummeted a whopping 94 percent in just a few weeks.

In California, recycling is the first step. Since July, supermarkets and large drug stores have been required to have receptacles for recycled plastic bags. Just keep them together until the next shopping trip and drop them in the bin as you enter the store. That's a habit shoppers can easily adopt.

Why the fuss over plastic bags? Count the reasons. ..."

This originally appeared in the Ventura County Star. 

Here we go again. The issue of renewing the development of nuclear power is rearing its ugly head under the guise of making California the happiest, greenest place on Earth. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is pushing this Disney-like scenario and it needs a reality check. Nuclear power simply has no future in California's new energy era.

If Californians give nuclear power a new lease on life, we will be moving in the wrong direction and relying on false promises. Today, even during a housing and economic slump, homeowners and businesses are turning to affordable, safe, clean and dependable energy in record numbers.

The governor believes nuclear power is the answer to global warming, but nothing could be further from the truth. Nuclear power is dirty, dangerous, too expensive and cannot exist without massive taxpayer subsidies.

A vicious pollution cycle also comes with the nuclear-power package. The production process of mining uranium to fuel nuclear plants requires massive, diesel-powered machinery that grossly pollutes the air. The mined uranium would then have to be shipped to the United States in large, diesel-powered ships and reprocessed into nuclear fuel in pollution-producing coke ovens.

There's more...

Hillary Clinton will be there. John Edwards will be there. Even Dennis Kucinich will be there. But Sen. Barack Obama appears to be MIA this weekend for an historic debate on global warming in Los Angeles sponsored by the California League of Conservation Voters.

The first Presidential Forum on Global Warming and America's Energy Future "will be a critical opportunity to hear from the candidates on their positions and to further elevate our issues in the presidential election," according to the CLCV's Susan Smart. More than a thousand people will fill the theater to watch the event. (You can watch the live webcast here.)

The event, which is sponsored by Grist and Living on Earth, will start at 2:15 pm PST with a welcome address from Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. Each of the candidates will then get 30 minutes on stage to talk about their vision for solving our energy problems and answer questions on their policies.

There's more...

It was report card day at the State Capitol today, as the California League of Conservation Voters gave Governor Schwarzenegger and the California legislature 2007's environmental scorecard. 29 Assembly Democrats and 11 Senate Democrats -- including Speaker Fabian Nunez, Senate Majority Leader Gloria Romero, and Assembly Majority Leader Karen Bass -- earned a perfect 100% this year, while no legislative Republican earned above a 50%. In fact, while Assembly and Senate Democrats averaged a commendable 94% and 89% respectively, Assembly and Senate Republicans averaged an embarrassingly low 5% and 9% respectively. Meanwhile, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger averaged 63%, his highest score yet. While the Governor still trails almost all legislative Democrats, he nonetheless is clearly much closer to mainstream California than his GOP party mates on the other side of the Capitol.

Where do the so-called moderates of the GOP stand? Senator Abel Maldonado takes top honors among legislative Republicans, clocking in at 43%. Maldonado is followed by Senator Tom Harman at 19%. Senator Jeff Denham, Assemblymember Bonnie Garcia, and Assemblymember Shirley Horton all scored 10%, revealing a voting record more aligned with the far-right of their party than with the consensus-minded image they like to present to their districts.

The Assembly Democratic Caucus has created a website compiling useful information and resources related to the oil spill in the San Francisco Bay. The release is included below:

California State Assembly Emergency Response Website, Bay Area Oil Spill is Launched

SACRAMENTO—The State Assembly’s Democratic Caucus has a website dedicated to providing the public with up-to-date information on natural and man-made disasters, such as the recent Cosco Busan oil spill. 

The spill was the result of a ship colliding with the San Francisco Bay Bridge.  Assembly Democrats are urging Californians to utilize this site for the most current information about the environmental crisis.

The California State Assembly Emergency Response Website, Bay Area Oil Spill consolidates multiple sources of useful and pertinent information at one online location.  It is found here.

The site includes:

• The latest situational report from the U.S. Coast Guard;
• Air quality information;
• The names of the parks and beaches affected by the spill;
• How to report oil sightings;
• Transportation information; and
• Ways for the public to get involved.

For more information on the latest news from the Assembly Democratic Caucus click here.

State Senator Tom McClintock has long enjoyed a reputation in Capitol circles for being a straight-shooting, principled conservative. You may not believe what he believes, but you usually get a sense that he knows what he's talking about.
 
That's why it's stunning that McClintock, in a speech last week to the Western Conservative Politcal Action Conference, called global warming a "farce." In a rant against environmentalists, he blasted the state's new greenhouse emissions law, co-authored by Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez, saying it would hurt industry and -- get this -- even cause starvation in the world.
 
Even the most neanderthal true believers in the Republican Party have begun to shed this line of thinking. Economic conservatives are acknowleding global warming and recommending market-based solutions. Moderate Republicans, like Sen. John McCain, are signing on to legislation on Capitol Hill to promote "cap and trade" programs. Even religious conservatives have taken up the cause of global warming. 

There's more...

Image courtesy Western Alliance.