Vote for Angelides, Brown, Garamendi, Bowen, Chiang, Lockyer, Bustamante

While the governor and attorney general make news with their environmental decisions, the other state officers have under-the-radar opportunities to influence state policy.

Governor: Phil Angelides

We can do better. We can have a governor who moves consistently toward a more sustainable future instead of trying to please his big-business supporters with one hand while making environmental promises with the other, mostly just before an election.

That is why Sierra Club has endorsed Phil Angelides for governor. The decision was reached after Angelides filled out a long questionnaire and met with us for a lengthy interview, and after four different committees of Sierra Club volunteers deliberated on the decision. (Gov. Schwarzenegger declined repeated requests to return our questionnaire and meet with us.) Angelides impressed the interview committee with his thorough knowledge of issues and his ability to articulate his positions.

While Gov. Schwarzenegger deserves credit for programs to fund solar energy and reduce diesel emissions, among other advances, his pro-environment promises have too often been undermined by his strong ties to the corporate lobbies that oppose virtually every major proposal to safeguard our air, water, and wild places.

Angelides has put smart-growth principles into practice, while Schwarzenegger has supported freeway expansion and the rollback of the landmark California Environmental Quality Act. Angelides supports the Clean Alternative Energy Initiative on the November ballot; Schwarzenegger opposes it. Angelides supports giving communities the ability to enforce California's public health and environmental laws, while Schwarzenegger backed the business-sponsored initiative that took away that right. Angelides called a halt to the handouts to industrial dairies in the Central Valley, while Schwarzenegger tried to keep giving away pollution-control money to polluters.

Schwarzenegger has named one committed preservationist to the Coastal Commission; Angelides promises to name four. Schwarzenegger went to Ohio in 2004 to campaign for George W. Bush, the most anti-environmental president in our history, while Angelides has opposed Bush and is endorsed by environmental champions like Sen. Barbara Boxer. Schwarzenegger is proud of his role in creating the gas-guzzling Hummer; Angelides is proud that his family owns three hybrid vehicles. Angelides says he would sign AB 32, the Global Warming Solutions Act in its current form, while Schwarzenegger has asked for several weakening amendments.

While Schwarzenegger raises fears that businesses will flee the state if subjected to stringent environmental safeguards - a claim not supported by evidence - Angelides has based his campaign on the conviction that California can compete with anyone by taking the high road - offering its people the best educational opportunities and the cleanest environment.

Sierra Club California's interview committee was well aware of Angelides' record as a developer in the Sacramento area in the past, and we discussed it with him. We gave much more weight, though, to his record as our elected treasurer over the last eight years. He has put the weight of his office behind real investments in clean energy and smart growth, and has prodded corporations to clean up their environmental practices.

WhatYouCanDo

To help elect Phil Angelides, contact or call (510)848-0800, ext. 304

Attorney general: Jerry Brown

While California's attorney general is often referred to as the state's "top cop", that title fails to capture the office's importance to our air, water, and wilderness. Among state officials, the attorney general's job is second only to the governorship in its importance to our state's environment.

The attorney general is in charge of enforcing California's laws protecting public health and the environment. As incumbent Attorney General Bill Lockyer has demonstrated, California's lawyer can play the important role of challenging threats to our environmental protections that emanate from a national government in the grip of polluter lobbies.

With Lockyer termed out and seeking election as treasurer (with the Sierra Club's endorsement), the best choice for attorney general this year is Jerry Brown. Having served two terms each as governor and as mayor of Oakland, Brown now seeks to complete his public-service career.

Environmental protection is one of Brown's top campaign themes. He pledges to "highlight the role of the attorney general as environmental steward and protector of California laws against federal pre-emption" and to "emphasize the seriousness of climate disruption". As attorney general, Brown plans to:

• creatively and vigorously provide environmental legal advice to state departments and agencies, and
• initiate original legal actions in both state and federal courts to advance environmental objectives."

Brown's record of accomplishments includes:

• protection of wild and scenic rivers;
• creation of the California Conservation Corps;
• implementing the state's first energy-efficiency standards for buildings and appliances; and
• promoting solar and wind energy.

Brown's opponent, Sen. Charles Poochigian, has a record of siding with every polluting special interest that infests the Capitol. Over 2003 - 2005 Poochigian voted against all 25 of Sierra Club California's most important bills. We simply can not afford to have an attorney general who would side with George Bush and big polluters against the health and resources of California.

WhatYouCanDo

To help elect Jerry Brown attorney general, contact or call (510) 848-0800, ext. 304.

Lieutenant governor: John Garamendi

The lieutenant governor sits on the State Lands Commission, the UC Board of Regents, and the Coastal Commission (non-voting).

Currently finishing his second term as insurance commissioner, Garamendi served before that in the legislature, where he authored laws on clean energy and toxic clean-up. As deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of Interior, he implemented the Central Valley Improvement Act water reforms and blocked the Ward Valley nuclear-waste dump. As lieutenant governor, Garamendi promises to continue promoting a green agenda, as he has at the state and federal levels for three decades.

Secretary of state: Debra Bowen

Touch-screen voting machines? Hackers? Paper trails? The secretary of state will decide the voting procedures for California as the state shifts to electronic voting, and absentee voting increases.

As chair of the Senate Elections Committee, Sen. Bowen has led the fight to ensure that all votes will be accurately recorded and reported. Bowen explains that the secretary of state controls "the infrastructure of our democracy". She strongly supports Clean Money campaign-finance reform (see article to right) and is extremely well-informed about the role and responsibilities of the office. Bowen, an environmental leader in the legislature, played a key role in removing polluter-linked appointees from environmental positions.

Controller: John Chiang

The controller sits on the State Lands Commission, the California Pollution Control Financing Authority, and the state pension funds.

Chiang has been elected twice to represent the Los Angeles area on the Board of Equalization. He has consistently voted to rigorously enforce "polluter-pays" fees that fund programs for electronic-waste recycling, hazardous-waste clean-up, and childhood-lead-poisoning prevention. As a staff member for former Controller Gray Davis, he also advocated ocean and desert protection.

Treasurer: Bill Lockyer

The treasurer influences environmental policy through investment decisions of the pension funds and as leader of the California Pollution Control Financing Authority.

For eight years Lockyer has been the greenest attorney general in California history. He will carry his environmental commitment to the treasurer's office, where he promises to wield his influence to be the greenest treasurer ever.

Insurance commissioner -
Cruz Bustamante

The Sierra Club endorses Cruz Bustamante for insurance commissioner based on his past record on the environment, his efforts as lieutenant governor to protect the coast and environment, and the way he says he would use the office of insurance commissioner. He also opposes Proposition 90, the worst anti-environmental measure ever on the ballot, whereas his opponent will not take a position.

Superintendent of public education - O'Connell already elected!

In the June elections, at the same time that the Sierra Club endorsed all of the above candidates in their primary races, we also endorsed Jack O'Connell for superintendent of public education. This one statewide race was not a primary but a general election, and O'Connell won; this office is therefore not on the November ballot.