Energy and the Environment Plank

General Preamble

All Californians, urban, suburban and rural, hold a shared interest in preserving and protecting the environment that sustains us.  California Democrats have led the way toward effective bi-partisan solutions to problems arising from our industrial society - resource extraction, waste disposal and pollution - and their disparate impact on our forests, family farms, the poor, ethnic minorities and indigenous people.

We have a vested interest in preserving and protecting natural resources that are such a positive part of our lives in Ventura County.  The Ventura County Democratic Party recognizes the importance of a clean and healthful environment, responsible use of energy, and slowing the impact of climate change.

To safeguard our cherished environment, Ventura County Democrats will:

Statement of Principles

Climate and Carbon

• Support the state’s landmark Global Warming Solutions Act.  By 2020, returning the state to 1990 greenhouse gas emissions levels; producing 40 percent of California's electricity from renewable and sustainable energy sources; and reducing electricity and natural gas use by 20 percent.  By 2030, producing 40 percent of the state's transportation fuels from non-petroleum sources; and supporting Low Carbon Fuel Standards that take into account long-term sustainability;
  
• Call upon all local governments to develop climate plans, including but not limited to identification of areas most affected by sea level rise, wildfires, and draught;
  
• Call upon University of California and California State University endowments, CalPERS and CalSTRS institutional funds, and Ventura County Employees Retirement Association to divest all holdings in the top 200 fossil fuels companies, as determined in the Carbon Tracker list.
  

Energy

• Favor careful regulation of existing energy sources, water usage associated with energy production, and waste water disposal/treatment associated with energy production;
  
• Favor development of and reliance on solar, wind, and other renewable resources; energy efficiency; local power (sometimes called distributed generation); and biomass conversion from landfills;
  
• Support a generous and unlimited minimum price guarantee as a method of promoting domestic and entrepreneurial renewable energy production and to increase the percentage of renewable energy in California's power mix.  We support government initiatives that allow property owners to finance energy efficiency and renewable energy projects for their homes and commercial buildings;
  
• Support: 1) an immediate moratorium on onshore and offshore hydraulic fracturing (fracking), acidizing, and other forms of well stimulation with such moratorium to remain in effect until federal legislation and regulations are put in place that repeal the exception in The Safe Drinking Water Act, guarantee the public health and safety, mitigate the effects on climate change, protect the environment and allow government access and testing of the chemicals used; 2) full disclosure and testing of all sites; and 3) substitution of renewable energy as soon as practical.
  
• Support an oil severance tax similar to the taxes found in every oil-producing state other than California and use these revenues to decrease our dependency on fossil fuels;
  

Healthy land

• Support keeping California state parks open, accessible, and fully funded;
  
• Support full funding of the Land and Water Conservation Fund, which supports parks and recreation at national, state, and local level;
  
• Support the mandates of the California Coastal Access Act;
  
• Support preservation of wetlands in the Ormond Beach area and full funding of cleanup efforts, and oppose further development in sensitive areas;
  
• Support Congressional efforts to restore full funding to the Army Corp of Engineers budget for beach restoration at Port Hueneme;
  

Healthy waters

• Support a moratorium for new offshore oil or gas development, the preservation of coastal access, the protection of the mandates of the California Coastal Act, and the recovery and preservation of our ocean ecosystems;
  
• Seek to have all existing off shore drilling platforms fully comply with existing environmental regulations and have relevant process safety studies;
  
• Support the long-delayed removal of Matilija Dam;
  
• Support a moratorium for the construction of offshore liquefied natural gas platforms;
  
• Support restoration of the Ventura River and all waterways in the county and creation of a Ventura River Parkway.
  

Pollution and Toxics

• Support a moratorium for the use of all fumigant pesticides, known carcinogens and neurotoxins, on strawberries, an important Ventura County crop.  We urge the Ventura County Board of Supervisors to pass a resolution opposing such pesticides.  We support efforts to phase out all pesticides affecting farmworkers and consumers;
  
• Call for complete and expeditious cleanup of Rocketdyne’s Santa Susana site to background levels and Halaco’s Ormond Beach site, and full disclosure of toxins;
  
• Support an immediate ban on single-use plastic bags at the local and statewide levels;
  

Statement in Support of Specified Actions by Government Agencies

Energy

• Urge Congress to pass a comprehensive energy security and climate protection law that includes national requirements for renewable electricity generation, a reduced reliance on carbon-intensive forms of energy such as coal, and a rigorous greenhouse gas emissions cap for the nation that meets or exceeds sound scientific standards;
  
• Ask the Governor and the California Legislature to work with the Public Utilities Commission, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and industry to lay out a plan of action to responsibly phase out nuclear power to protect the economy, the health and safety of Californians, and our environment;
  
• Ask the Governor and the California Legislature to work with the Public Utilities Commission to focus California's energy policy on conservation, distributed generation, and the development of solar, wind, tidal, biomass conversion, and other forms of clean and renewable energy; and
  

Statement in Support of Specified Actions by Industry

• Seek to have all energy providers responsibly phase-out of reliance on fossil fuels to protect the human race from the worst impacts of climate change.