Brown may find it hard to be green governor
By Anthony York, Los Angeles Times
SACRAMENTO — Jerry Brown ran for governor promising to revive the economy through an aggressive expansion of California’s green-energy industry — but that agenda could prove costly to consumers.
Brown wants the state to make major new investments in solar and wind power: building large-scale power plants that run on renewable resources and placing solar panels on parking-lot roofs, school buildings and along the banks of state highways. Although advocates of renewable energy tout the long-term savings of going green, billions of dollars would be required to reach the governor-elect’s green-energy goals.
Nobody knows if the program would produce the “more than half a million green jobs” Brown promised during the campaign, but many experts agree that it could lead to sharply higher utility rates.
