CALIFORNIA VOTERS REJECT PROP 23 AND SEND MESSAGE: “RENEWABLE ENERGY IS HERE TO STAY”
~Solar Industry Leader Says Validation of AB32 Cements Foundation for Continued Investment and Job Creation in America’s Largest Renewable Power Market ~
NOVATO, CA—November 3, 2010— With the country and the world watching Tuesday’s vote in California on Proposition 23, Tom Rooney, President and CEO of SPG Solar, hails voter rejection of this initiative as a reminder to State and Federal energy policy makers that renewable energy is here to stay. SPG Solar is California’s second largest commercial solar installer and manages over 1,500 solar system installations nationwide.
“Washington D.C. and every state across the country need to look at this vote as a ‘call to action’ as legislators’ debate our energy policy. America’s largest solar market has now voted, confirming the demand for cleaner energy initiatives in this country,” said Rooney.
According to the Solar Energy Industries Association, the solar energy sector has created 17,000 jobs since 2009, and supports roughly 46,000 related jobs in the U.S. Employment in solar is expected to surpass 60,000 jobs by the end of 2010.
“Californians get it,” said Rooney. “California continues to lead the way on a critical national policy debate by rejecting the Prop. 23 notion that clean energy means fewer jobs.
“The AB 32 legislation is a critical first step in cleaning up the air we breath and creating the jobs we need right here in California.” He adds, “Now we can keep moving forward and continue to build the foundation of a growing and competitive marketplace for renewable energy in California. We can go the next step and put the right mechanisms in place, like sensible feed-in tariffs, to maintain our leadership in clean, renewable energy,” said Rooney.
At the national level, with nearly 50% of America’s commercial and residential solar installations in California, the voter rejection of Prop 23 is a critical signal to the global investment community about the US as an increasingly viable renewable energy market for investment capital. The United States currently ranks fourth behind Germany, Japan and Italy in solar energy installations and job creation. California stands the most to gain if global investors begin to shift their investment dollars away from China and Germany and into American manufacturing jobs and technology.
Rooney notes that because of the vote solar investments across the State that are ‘on hold’ or in the planning stages can now move forward with the certainty that solar is here to stay.