The Assembly Utilities and Energy Committee is holding a hearing on Senate Bill 100, legislation to transition California to 100% clean electricity by 2045, where advocates gathered to deliver more than 38,000 messages and signatures in support of a clean bill. The Committee, chaired by Assemblymember Chris Holden, is expected to vote on SB100 following today’s hearing.

“It’s time for California to decide that it is going to power itself with clean energy. Thousands of Californians across the state have urged our legislators to breathe life into this bill and get us to a clean grid. Earthjustice stands with them,” said Erica Martinez, California policy advocate for Earthjustice. “Now, it’s up to our Assembly to deliver on the promise of clean energy by supporting SB 100. The health of our families, the surge of clean energy jobs, and the quality of our air depend on their leadership.”

“Too many Californians still breathe unhealthy air. Rising temperatures, more frequent and intense wildfires and other climate-related impacts mean we need to do more to protect our air. By moving us forward to 100% clean energy, Senate Bill 100 supports cleaner air and a healthier environment for all Californians,” said Will Barrett, clean air advocacy manager for the American Lung Association in California.

“As mothers, there is nothing more important to us than the safety of our children. Their future depends on a swift, complete and just transition off of dirty fossil fuels to clean, renewable energy. We see SB 100 as a key strategy for hastening this transition, helping our children to win the race against climate catastrophe,” said Amanda Senior, volunteer leader with Mothers Out Front.

“California climate hawks are strongly behind SB 100, Kevin de Leon’s visionary bill,” says RL Miller of Climate Hawks Vote. “We’re looking forward to swift action from the Assembly Utilities & Energy Committee, and then the Assembly as a whole.”

“Californians all across the state are energized about achieving a 100 percent clean electricity future, creating healthier communities today and a more livable future for our children,” said Michelle Kinman, Environment California’s clean energy & transportation program director. “We urge Chair Chris Holden and the Committee to stand with Californians and move us all one step closer to a clean energy future.”

“If California is a global climate leader then we must do everything possible to avoid the worst impacts of climate change. In the coming decades we must turn down our natural gas use and power our grid with 100% clean energy. The grid operators, utilities and the Public Utilities Commission should plan now how they will phase out fossil fuel and natural gas power plants in an orderly and equitable way that ensures the lights stay on,” said Laura Wisland, senior manager at the Union of Concerned Scientists.

“California’s leading policies—like our Renewables Portfolio Standard—have energized our clean energy economy and more than 140,000 Californians are now employed in solar and wind. SB 100 will provide an attainable action plan for the state to achieve 100% clean energy, reduce the climate impact of our electricity, and deliver market signals to encourage continued investment in our clean energy economy,” says Andy Wunder, Western States advocate at E2 (Environmental Entrepreneurs).

“California is a global leader in the transition to cleaner, smarter ways to power our progress. It is essential that we take strong action now to reduce emissions, protect public health, and lead the way to more good-paying clean energy jobs, to innovation that makes us more efficient, and to leaving our children a livable world. SB 100 puts California on a path to 100% clean energy, which will be good for our economy, our families, and our future,” said Peter Miller, Western energy project director, Natural Resources Defense Council.

“Our respective faith traditions recognize a moral duty to cherish Creation for future generations. The current rise of greenhouse gases in leading to an unprecedented rate of increase in global surface temperatures of extreme detriment to the Earth’s ecosystems. We must take bold action now to avert catastrophic climate change. This is why 48 faith-based organizations and faith leaders signed a letter urging the Legislature to pass Senate Bill 100,” said Jim Lindburg, legislative director of Friends Committee on Legislation of California.

“This bill’s goal of 100% clean electricity by 2045 will be a major step in moving California to 100% clean energy and will send a message that California takes the climate fight seriously,” said Fossil Free California board chair Deborah Silvey.

“SB 100 will assure that California continues to be in the forefront of leadership in addressing climate change by both accelerating the procurement of solar and other renewable energy sources in the near future and assuring that all state agencies are taking a long-run view about the issues that need to be addressed to get to a 100% greenhouse gas-free electric system by 2045 or earlier,” said Ed Smeloff, California policy and regulatory director at Vote Solar.

“Many of our 700 religious institutions are already using solar or otherwise powering their facilities with renewable energy. For us it’s a matter of living our faith. We are called to love our neighbors and care for Creation and that means not polluting their air and water. Let’s put California on track to power our state entirely with clean energy like solar and wind—or as we like to think of it, energy from Heaven!” said California Interfaith Power & Light executive director Susan Stephenson.

“Low-income communities of color suffer the worst effects of the fossil fuel economy. Speeding the transition to cleaner electricity will bring better health and more economic opportunities to disadvantaged communities,” said Madeline Stano, energy legal counsel at the Greenlining Institute.

“Dirty energy is driving climate change, while poisoning our families. We’re tired of a system that leaves our communities sick. We need to unplug corporate polluters and power up California with 100% clean, renewable energy now with a focus on the most impacted communities. SB 100 will transition our state away from fossil fuels that have disproportionately impacted the most disadvantaged communities and communities of color. The bill charts a pathway for the public health and economic benefits of local renewable energy to reach communities that need it the most,” said Amy Vanderwarker, interim co-director, California Environmental Justice Alliance.

“The bill as written as it goes into the Assembly Energy and Utilities Committee represents a big leap towards achieving clean air and clean energy. We’re working to make sure the Assembly committee members recognize that and resist any pressure to weaken or degrade its value before it moves to the Assembly floor,” said Kathryn Phillips, director at Sierra Club California.

News item from Vote Solar