VisionsofAmerica/Joe Sohm
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The Los Angeles initiative, known as "Measure B," would have required the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, a public utilities provider, to install 400 megawatts worth of solar panels by 2014. The measure, however, did not receive the votes it needed to pass, and so, it seems, large-scale solar power plans in Southern California must return to the drawing board.
The failure of the measure is not being seen as a rejection of solar power in Los Angeles. Instead, the controversy and debate surrounding the plan was concerned with how such a system will be implemented. Measure B would have required the local utility to install the solar panels and other elements of the infrastructure.
Supporters of the mayor and union-backed measure saw it as the easiest way to have renewable energy use mandated and as an opportunity to create new jobs in the area. Critics argued that the group, which has no experience working with solar-power systems, would have more difficulty executing the project then a specialized private company, and that private firms could complete the project faster and cheaper.
City legislatures would, reportedly, still consider a modified version of the measure, even though it did not technically receive the public support they would have liked. Adam Browning, of the advocacy group Vote Solar, commented that "what we learned from this campaign is that both opponents, as well as supporters, of this initiative want solar energy...nobody was saying this shouldn't be done because we're worried about solar."
Indeed, many people are excited about solar, and the implications such a large-scale project will have for the rest of the country.
Find out more about the latest environmental and political news on Focus Earth: March 7, 2009: Solar Hopes Dimmed and Geneva Autos.
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