Jeremy Terhune / FLCR & Defenders of the Wildlife
Propositions 21, 23, and 26 were three of the most important Propositions on the mid-term ballot. Here’s where my they ended up after November 2nd:
Proposition 21
760,000 Californians signed petitions to place it on the ballot, and 20 of our top Latino organizations endorsed it. However, even this mighty mustering of forces was not enough to pass Proposition 21, which lost by a whopping 16%.
It seems that the additional $18 in annual vehicle registration fees wasn’t worth the half-billion dollars Proposition 21 would have put exclusively into our State Parks.
The millions of us that visit State Parks must spend at least $18 per year on entry fees alone – not to mention the estimated $53 the average family spends in surrounding communities on just one visit.
Our 278 State parks sprawl across mountains, coast, and desert, providing 1.5 million acres of habitat for wildlife, and a place for our children to learn, play, and exercise.
The failure of Prop 21 was a big disappointment, but the diverse coalition that worked together to push this measure forward will strengthen the parks and conservation movement in the state in the future.
Proposition 23
In a sweet victory, voters overwhelmingly rejected this deceptive proposition.
Valero and Tesoro Texas oil companies are amongst the nation’s worst polluters, and they spent millions of dollars on this measure to repeal clean energy and air pollution reduction standards that were already passed four years ago (AB 32).
Valero’s CEO, Bill Klesse may have suggested that voters would pay at the pump for rejecting Prop 23, clean energy businesses and technologies are bright spots in our economy, and the survival of our state’s clean energy and clean air law will mean hundreds of thousands of jobs for our people!
Proposition 26
Chevron, ExxonMobil, Phillip Morris and friends spent over $18 million to pass Prop 26. It was coined as the “evil twin sister” of Prop 23 because it would force California taxpayers to pay for pollution.
Regulatory fees used for oil spill or hazardous waste clean-up, health effects of cigarettes, pesticides, or alcohol, and the environmental costs of air pollution will be redefined as taxes, thus, they will need approval by a 2/3 vote of the Legislature or by an expensive local election requiring a super majority vote..
Public health officials shouldn’t have to choose between siphoning revenue from existing sources, like public safety and education, or allowing the pollution to go unchecked.
Related Articles
- Without Prop. 21, State Parks Continue To Face Closures (huffingtonpost.com)
- No On Proposition 21 (windsofchange.net)
- CA Propositions: No on #21 (cehwiedel.com)
- Supporters of Prop 23 Suffer From Pinocchio Syndrome (triplepundit.com)
- “Proposition 21: State Parks Vehicle License Surcharge” and related posts (taxabletalk.com)
- The dirty oil coalition behind the Proposition 23 effort to stop clean energy just got a lot dirtier – Koch Industries joins Valero and Tesoro to stop climate action (climateprogress.org)
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