Riverside Mayor Loveridge Urges Yes Vote On 87
Mayor Ron Loveridge today urged Californians to vote Yes on Proposition 87, saying the time for action on cleaner air and cheaper energy is now.Ron Loveridge has served as Riverside's Mayor since 1994, and was a member of its City Council from 1979 to 1994. He is the Immediate Past President of the League of California Cities and is a member of the California Air Resources Board and the South Coast Air Quality Management District.
"It's time to move from symbolic politics to real results. It is time to change the future of California," Mayor Loveridge said. "It's time for a vote for clean energy. It's a real choice that will change the form and use of energy in the state of California. It's good for our economy. It's good for global warming. It's good for the national security of our country. It's great for the health of the residents of the great city I represent."
Mayor Ron Loveridge Supports Prop 87
"It is time big oil pays its fair share," Mayor Loveridge continued. "Every other state that has oil production pays the state a fee for every barrel drilled. Except California. Our per barrel fee will go to producing cleaner, cheaper fuels. If Texas, Alaska, Louisiana and Oklahoma all have these fees, why shouldn't California? It's not like we're going to suddenly put the oil companies out of business. Last year they made $78 billion in profit."
Riverside County is currently ranked by the American Lung Association as the nation's worst in terms of both daily and annual levels of particle air pollution.
"I think it is really interesting who is opposing 87. It's the old saying: 'Follow the money.' Where is the money coming from? It's coming almost entirely from the oil companies, led by Chevron. I've heard the figure is around $30 million. I think it's more like an open checkbook," Mayor Loveridge added.
"I have read their attacks and heard their commercials. It is a standard "anti" campaign of raising doubts and fears. They emphasize increased gas prices and faceless state bureaucracy. These are the expected attacks, and they are both miscast and wrong. It is a campaign of fear and misinformation, prepared and staged by the best political consultants money can buy," Mayor Loveridge said.
Proposition 87 will reduce our dependence on oil with cleaner, cheaper and domestic fuels. The effort will be funded by oil drilling fees paid by oil companies.
Proposition 87 makes oil companies pay - not consumers. According to California's Attorney General, Prop. 87 makes it illegal for oil companies to raise gas prices to pass the cost on to consumers. The U.S. Supreme Court has already ruled that states can prohibit oil companies from passing fees like this on to consumers.
In Alaska, Louisiana and even Texas, oil companies pay billions in oil drilling fees. In California, they pay almost nothing. Proposition 87 makes oil companies pay their fair share so we can use cheaper, cleaner energy and reduce air pollution that causes asthma, lung disease and cancer.
A growing coalition including Senator Dianne Feinstein, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell, the American Lung Association of California, the Coalition for Clean Air, the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, businesses, Nobel Prize laureates and environmental, local government and public health organizations all support Proposition 87.
posted by Phillip | Tuesday, September 12 | Link to this post
