A solar panel array
On March 3, 2009, Los Angelenos will vote on a ballot that could see a complex solar power system installed throughout the Los Angeles Basin. If Measure B is passed, the Department of Water and Power will connect the solar panels to the existing electric grid, providing hundreds of locally contracted jobs for Southern Californians along with a new source of clean and renewable power. It will also serve to boost the progress of the ‘green economy’ on the West Coast, thus fulfilling one of President Obama’s key environmental objectives.
The DWP will assume responsibility for the installation and maintenance of the solar systems, and has estimated a production rate of at least 400 megawatts within five years.
Supported wholeheartedly by Mayor Villaraigosa and a number of local industries and organizations, it seems like Measure B- known also as the Green Energy and Good Jobs for Los Angeles Act, or Solar 8- is a sure thing. But believe it or not, the ballot measure has its opponents.
The most relentless of these anti-solar crusaders can be found right here in the Valley- namely, the Valley Industry and Commerce Association, which has formally condemned the proposal. There are, of course, a number of understandable reasons for taking this position. The DWP’s plan to use union-based construction crews, as opposed to public companies, has ruffled many feathers in the Valley’s commerce community. It is believed that the measure would lead to a heavy monopoly in the DWP’s favor, considering they will own all elements of the infrastructure. The panels themselves will be constructed in a foreign market, thus sending SoCal taxpayer’s money overseas. And VICA representatives have also publicly questioned why the measure would need to be put to a public ballot at all.
It is my firm belief that the wide-scale production and distribution of alternative sources of energy will be the dominant industry of this new century. Solar power on the grand scale such as that proposed by Measure B has been proven to be a bankable and environmentally conscious way to feed the energy needs of a large city. A successful precedent can be found in the Solar Roof Initiative in Berlin, which has become the model for similar projects worldwide.
Although Measure B has its share of negative points, like most every ballot ever put to a vote, it represents an important step in the right direction, not only for residents of the Valley, but for all Californians, Americans, and the citizens of the Earth as a whole.
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