Just a fraction of the jobs promised by California’s clean jobs initiative—a voter-approved ballot measure that raised taxes on corporations and generate clean-energy jobs— have come to fruition, according to a recent Associated Press report. The report also revealed that California “has no comprehensive list to show much work has been done or energy saved.” Now, Republican and Democrats state lawmakers are demanding more stringent oversight of the initiative. The Associated Press,
“The AP reported that three years after voters passed Proposition 39, money is trickling in at a slower-than-anticipated rate, and more than half of the $297 million given to schools so far has gone to consultants and energy auditors. The board created to oversee the project and submit annual progress reports to the Legislature has never met.
“Voters in 2012 approved the Clean Energy Jobs Act by a large margin, closing a tax loophole for multistate corporations. The Legislature decided to send half the money to fund clean energy projects in schools, promising to generate more than 11,000 jobs each year.
“Instead, only 1,700 jobs have been created in three years, raising concerns about whether the money is accomplishing what voters were promised.”
While some California Democrats have joined Republicans in stating their concern for the law, others are not ready to admit the truth—specifically those who are under the thumb of California billionaire and extreme “green” hypocrite Tom Steyer. The AP,
“Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de Leon, the Los Angeles Democrat who was the primary booster of Proposition 39 and its implementation in the state Legislature, said Monday that the measure is already successful, and said it is too soon to assess its effectiveness.”
State Sen. de Leon released a joint statement with Steyer—who funded the initiative campaign with $30 million of his own money—denying the reality that the initiative is a failure in every respect. Not only has it failed to create promised jobs, it has also failed to take in promised funds. The AP,
“The proposition is also bringing in millions less each year than initially projected. Proponents such as de Leon and billionaire investor and philanthropist Tom Steyer, who funded the ballot measure with a personal $30 million, told voters in 2012 that it would send up to $550 million annually to the Clean Jobs Energy Fund. But it brought in just $381 million in 2013, $279 million in 2014 and $313 million in 2015.”
Of course, Steyer’s office “declined to make him available for an interview or to comment on the lower revenue figures.” Meanwhile, California Republicans are seeking to present the initiative as a “cautionary tale” for other extreme “green” proposals Democrats are pushing.
Here’s hoping Jay Inslee is paying attention to California’s “green” failures. Though, we can’t be sure he cares either way—our green governor appears more concerned with his green legacy than with reality.
Inslee doesn’t realize that his green agenda is like flippin’ the bird in God’s face. He doesn’t realize this, even though God has allowed half his state to go up in flames. What we need in Olympia is a man of understanding, not some special-interest pandering zombie Fabian Socialist or, for that matter, a Fabian Socialist Republican spagetti-man, such as the Republican party has proffered over the course of the last four or five gubernatorial election cycles.