I noticed this headline today in the Oakland Tribune.
Upon reading the article it said that the State Assembly had passed a measure requiring power companies to obtain up to 33% of their energy from renewable sources by 2020. It went on to say that utility companies would "face steep cost increases to comply with the measure." Utilities currently supply about 20% from renewable sources.
However, those "steep increases" turn out to be 15% by 2020 according to the article. This amounts to an increase of less than 1.5% per year. Compared to the increases of fossil fuels this is hardly "steep".
And the benefits of local jobs, cleaner air, and at least a chance to slow global warming, all make this bill a very positive measure. If we could add a "feed-in tariff" for rooftop solar panels, I'm sure the 33% goal would be very easy to meet.
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