Californians defeat clean energy initiatives

On a day that will be forever remembered as giant step toward our society's acceptance of change, California voters struck down two alternative energy initiatives at the polls this election day. The first was Proposition 7, otherwise known as "The Solar and Clean Energy Law of 2008," which would have required that 50% of the state's electricity come from renewable sources by 2025. Critics of this action object to what they think are new loopholes created by the law which would allow utility companies more chances to avoid compliance than under current laws.

The second initiative was Proposition 10, also known as "The California Renewable Energy and Clean Alternative Fuel Act," would have provided rebate incentives for the purchase of vehicles running on alternative fuels. Critics of this plan questioned where the money would come from when the state already has a deficit. While it's unfortunate that these initiatives were beat out at the polls, it is surely a good sign that more and more legislation is being introduced to help our environment.

Most experts believe that a carbon tax and feed in tarriffs for wind and solar are the best ways to green our nation and the good news is that a small feed in tariff is expected to go into use in California in late '09 or 2010 read more here.