Vern mentioned that activists have been pushing for us to publish the OC Climate Voter Guide. Yes, we’re full of election posts right now — but this is a really good effort and it deserves to be seen. So — click above and read it!
To give you a sense of how probing their questions are, here are the ones they posed to the Board of Equalization Candidates. Only one candidate replied — and yes, his last name is Dodson — who was YES across the board!
| Do you believe that climate change is a critical issue that requires urgent action by the Board of Equalization? | Clean Energy Tax Relief: Do you support expanding the solar power exclusion tax exclusion to include upgrades to heat pumps, battery storage and other innovations that will help reduce pollution? | Open Space Preservation: Do you support adjusting the Land Conservation Act tax formula so land owners are incentivized to preserve open space? | Accelerating the Transition from Fossil Fuels: Do you support reforms to tax assessments on the property of power companies, interstate pipelines, and railroad transportation to accelerate the transition away from fossil fuels? | Water: Do you support using BOE authority to update California’s antiquated water rights system to help solve California’s water problems? |
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Candidate responses to the surveys was sparse — not unusual with a survey from what was likely an unknown group — but informative where it exists and is supplemented by research into voting records. In the Supe 4 race, Doug Chaffee agreed with every good thing they asked about except one — “Well-run community choice energy program to reach 100% renewable energy,” while Sunny Park said yes to that (“well-run” being the operative term here”) was a little more selective, mixing in a few “maybes” on items that seem less likely to be delivered during a Supervisor’s upcoming term, such as “Require new buildings to be gas-free and all-electric.” You can draw your own conclusions from that; my tentative conclusion is that Chaffee will say anything to be elected, without ever intending to go through with such commitments, and that somewhere there’s a questionnaire or notes of a conversation with industry figures or lobbyists where he tells them that he certainly won’t go through with it.
There’s way to much else to go through! As with our own endorsements, you don’t need to read it all the way through like a novel; you can use it as an encyclopedia to look up exactly what you’re interested in!
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