On a day when supporters of climate legislation were defeated in races across the U.S., California voters soundly rejected a measure that would have suspended an ambitious state law to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

The ballot initiative, known as Proposition 23, was funded largely by oil companies and would have put on hold a law requiring the state to cut greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020.

With nearly half of the state’s precincts reporting, the initiative received support from only 41 percent of voters, with 59 percent voting “no.”

Environmental groups and clean energy investors waged a $31.2 million campaign to defeat Proposition 23, calling it a threat to the state’s green technology sector. “This is a reaffirmation that we are a country of some enlightenment,” said Michael Eckhart, president of the American Council on Renewable Energy.

Supporters of Proposition 23 — which would have suspended the climate law until state unemployment remained below 5.5 percent for one year (it currently stands at 12 percent) — said the initiative would have helped reverse a steep rise in energy costs.

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The developing world, where 44 percent of people lack access to electricity, could soon be one of the biggest markets for solar power, according to participants at the Solar Power International conference in California.

To date, just 1 percent of solar panel production has been installed in poor nations in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, a situation that Michael Eckhart, president of the American Council on Renewable Energy, called “a scandal for our industry.”

Eckhart and other experts said that in addition to finding financing to help low-income residents install solar panels, a major challenge is purchasing and replacing the batteries to store electricity at night and on cloudy days.

Another significant hurdle is replacing the energy-wasting incandescent bulbs and old, inefficient appliances and computers often used by village households.

One expert who has installed off-the-grid solar arrays in Africa and China said in regions where villagers use compact fluorescent bulbs and efficient appliances the cost of installing an adequate solar array and battery can be 75 percent cheaper.

Article appearing courtesy of Yale Environment 360

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