Today, E&E Legal’s President Craig Richardson made the following statement:

“San Francisco billionaire Tom Steyer has once again attempted to impose his personal political agenda which would drive others into poverty. Steyer, through his NextGen Climate Action organization, spent over $20 million on Proposition 127 in Arizona which would have required 12% of electricity from renewable resources in 2020, increasing annually to 50% in 2030. This effort would have replaced efficient, low-cost energy sources like oil and natural gas with costly, inefficient energy like wind and solar.

“Steyer successfully backed similar efforts in California, and the Californians who can least afford it – poor, elderly, and minorities – are paying a hefty price. California, not Mississippi, now has the highest poverty rate in the country with energy costs being a major contributing factor. California’s move to “green energy” has led to nearly 1 million California households being in energy poverty, spending more than 10% of their household incomes on energy bills. California’s energy costs are as much as 50% higher than the national average. Thankfully Arizonans learned a valuable lesson from California’s mistake and voted down Steyer’s attempt to add to his bank account at the expense of hard-working Arizonans.

“What’s most shameful about Steyer’s poverty-causing ballot initiative is that he has personally and financially benefited from ‘green energy’ investments.  So this has nothing to do with him ‘saving the environment’ and everything to do with him lining his own pockets.”

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