A very strong message

Monday, Nov. 8, 2010 | 2:01 a.m.

Oil companies spent millions of dollars in California this year trying to convince voters to approve Proposition 23, an initiative that would have rolled back the state’s climate-change laws. The companies pushed the measure because they didn’t want to pay for the improvements of their refineries needed to curb the amount of pollution they produce.

California’s laws have earned the ire of some companies in the oil industry, as well as in manufacturing, because they are the most stringent in the nation.

Voters wisely defeated the oil industry’s push, voting down Proposition 23 by a wide margin. California voters understand the need for the laws — they’ve seen the problems with air pollution in the big cities, particularly Los Angeles. But in addition to mandating a reduction in greenhouse gases, California also has encouraged renewable energy companies to invest there.

As a result, the renewable energy industry hasn’t just been good for the environment — it has also been good for the economy. There are more than 500,000 green-energy jobs in California, and in 2009, there was $1.2 billion of capital investment made by the industry.

Nevadans should take note because this state has abundant potential for renewable energy, with ample sun, geothermal and wind. The investments that have been made in Nevada should be encouraged and spurred on with incentives. Nevada should become a national leader in renewable energy, and it has a strong champion in Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., who was just re-elected.

President Barack Obama has also argued for more renewable energy, but some members of Congress have denied the problem of climate change, and they have tried to chain the nation to an energy future based on oil, nuclear and coal. Certainly, America will need traditional power plants for years to come, but the emphasis shouldn’t be on polluting sources of power. The future is in renewable energy.

California voters’ strong rejection of the proposition is good because it sets a tone for the rest of the nation.

“It is the largest public referendum in history on climate and clean energy policy,” Fred Krupp, president of the Environmental Defense Fund, told the Los Angeles Times. “There has never been anything this big. It is going to send a signal to other parts of the country and beyond.”

George Shultz, former secretary of state under Republican icon Ronald Reagan, said big oil companies tried to stop the law so they could prevent similar laws from spreading across the country. Shultz, who helped lead the effort against the repeal of California’s environmental laws, said the message of the victory needs to be made clear. “We need to wake up our fellow Republicans,” he said.

Indeed. As we have noted previously, renewable energy is one way to pursue energy independence, and it’s also a national security issue. Shultz said the nation’s dependence on foreign oil leaves it vulnerable to terrorism and economic spikes.

The bottom line: Cleaning the air and reducing the nation’s reliance on foreign oil and polluting energy sources shouldn’t be a partisan issue. It should be seen as sound policy.