[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

Hillary Clinton will be there. John Edwards will be there. Even Dennis Kucinich will be there. But Sen. Barack Obama appears to be MIA this weekend for an historic debate on global warming in Los Angeles sponsored by the California League of Conservation Voters.

The first Presidential Forum on Global Warming and America's Energy Future "will be a critical opportunity to hear from the candidates on their positions and to further elevate our issues in the presidential election," according to the CLCV's Susan Smart. More than a thousand people will fill the theater to watch the event. (You can watch the live webcast here.)

The event, which is sponsored by Grist and Living on Earth, will start at 2:15 pm PST with a welcome address from Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. Each of the candidates will then get 30 minutes on stage to talk about their vision for solving our energy problems and answer questions on their policies.

There's more...

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

Life in the post-election, post-bonds, post-AB 32, post-partisan world

By Susan Smartt
Executive Director of the California League of Conservation Voters

As we reported in last year’s Scorecard, the 2006 legislative session was one of the most productive in recent years for the environment, capped by the enactment of the milestone AB 32, the Global Warming Solutions Act. It was also an election year, and 2006 closed with hopeful signs of change:

• Almost half of the Assembly – 37 out of 80 members – were newly-elected freshmen (in 2004 there were 18). In fact, a majority of the Assembly Democratic caucus – 25 out of 48 – were elected to their first term.

• The voters approved an unprecedented $43 billion in infrastructure bonds, for everything from transportation to housing to flood control.

• Governor Schwarzenegger triangulated his way to easy re-election, cheerfully declaring that his election and the 2006 legislative session ushered in an era of post-partisan cooperation.

• For environmentalists, AB 32 promised to change just about everything. If the state was serious about reducing its global warming gas emissions, then the process itself would lead to many other environmental improvements we had long supported.

[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

The League of Conservation Voters will be hosting a presidential debate focused on "global warming and America's energy future." Senator Hillary Clinton and former Senator John Edwards have confirmed that they will atend. The League's press release is below:

"Washington, DC – For the first time in history, candidates for President have committed to appear at a forum focused on the issues of global warming and America's energy future.

On November 17, Senators Hillary Clinton and John Edwards are confirmed to attend the forum sponsored by Grist http://www.grist.org. The candidates will present their plans to address global warming and energy issues in a series of interviews with journalists and experts in the field. The Grist forum will be presented in partnership with the League of Conservation Voters Education Fund, California League of Conservation Voters Education
Fund, Center for American Progress Action Fund, NRDC Action Fund, and the Presidential Forum on Renewable Energy. All candidates from both the Democratic and Republican parties have been invited.

The forum will be held at the Wadsworth Theatre in West Los Angeles on Saturday, November 17. The estimated start time will be 1:30pm PST.

There's more...

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

• Schwarzenegger Scores Highest Rating of his Governorship – 63%
• Senate Republicans’ average 9% while Senate Democrats averaged 89%
• Assembly Democrats averaged 94% in stark contrast to Assembly Republicans at 5%

By Susan Smartt
Executive Director of the California League of Conservation Voters

As the Executive Director of the California League of Conservation Voters (CLCV) – the political arm of the environmental movement in America’s leading environmental state – I am happy to announce the release of its annual California Environmental Scorecard today, revealing highlights of the 2007 legislative session. Governor Schwarzenegger’s 63% represents the highest score of his tenure, and Assembly Democrats led the pack with 29 members earning perfect 100% scores. In a year when global warming was on everyone’s mind, the legislature approved several alternative energy measures but left the two most important greenhouse gas emission bills – SB 375 and SB 974 –to be decided in 2008.

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Rico Mastrodonato
Northern California Director
California League of Conservation Voters

The California League of Conservation Voters is a grassroots organization that represents over 35,000 members across the state – and I speak from the grassroots.

Every night we talk to hundreds of Californians one on one, Democrats, Republicans and Independents and the overwhelming feedback we hear is Californians care deeply about the environment. We care about clean air, safe drinking water and global warming – we care about our future. Californians also want their government to do more to protect the environment and the effects of climate change.

Senate Republicans are not listening to Californians. Senate Republicans want to gut the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) if they are to pass this budget. CEQA is our environmental ‘bill of rights’ and policy that was signed into law almost 40 years ago by then Governor Ronald Reagan. CEQA ensures we use the best technology and practices as we continue to grow and develop the state. CEQA will make sure we do our best to reduce global warming emissions when we expand refineries like the one I spoke in front of--Conoco-Phillips in Martinez Friday morning.

by dday [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

The endorsement tit-for-tat continues in the 37th Congressional District race to replace the late Congresswoman Juanita Millender-McDonald. Most black politicos have lined up behind Assemblymember Laura Richardson and most Latino politicos have lined up behind Senator Jenny Oropeza, but the issue group endorsements have been spread across the board despite there "not [being] an ideological crack wide enough for a human hair among the congressional candidates" according to Sac Bee columnist Dan Walters. The California Democratic Party has officially endorsed Oropeza and some key LGBT figures have lined up behind the Senator as well, while the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor has backed Richardson with all the boots on the ground that implies. Now the California League of Conservation Voters has weighed in, and they're backing Oropeza. Does this mean the slugfest will continue, only with recycled baseball bats? Stay tuned.