Renewable Energy

Both the sides for and against California's Proposition 7 claimed at least partial victories Thursday over a Sacramento County Superior Court decision on language in the ballot measure's arguments.

The Yes on 7 campaign noted that Judge Michael Kenny left unchanged portions of their argument in support of the measure, such as that the measure would never add more than 3 percent annually to residents' electric bills, that it would create over 370,000 new jobs and that it would bar utilities from passing penalties onto ratepayers if the utilities failed to meet the measure's requirements for renewable energy.

But the No on 7 campaign claimed victory as well, saying the judge had rejected petitions by Proposition 7 supporters to change language about how the measure would affect small-scale renewable energy companies.

America's energy problems have become a highlighted campaign issue over the past several weeks. When both presidential campaigns came to Ohio last week, Republican and Democrats alike held press conference calls to tussle over the energy issue.

One aspect that has been brought up to help solve the energy problem is cracking down on speculators, who may be artificially driving up the price of oil.

Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Lorain County) co-sponsored legislation this week designed to do just that.

Brown announced Thursday that he is a co-sponsor of the "Stop Excessive Energy Speculation Act of 2008." This legislation would give the federal regulator of futures markets the resources to detect, prevent, and punish price manipulation and excessive speculation.

"We need to provide immediate relief to consumers struggling with high energy costs," Brown said in a statement. "Instead of sound bite solutions, we must act to lower gas prices now. We need to put Ohio families ahead of oil speculators. Going after excessive speculation would bring immediate relief to American consumers."

The campaign of state Sen. Kirk Schuring (R-Canton) preempted an event held at a Sunoco gas station Tuesday morning by opponent state Sen. John Boccieri (D-New Middletown) with the release of a statement titled, "Gimmicks Aren't Solutions."

Schuring is running against Boccieri to replace retiring U.S. Rep. Ralph Regula in Ohio's 16th Congressional district seat.

Boccieri announced the event last week. He was slated to appear with U.S. Rep. Rahm Emmanuel (D-Ill.) at the Sunoco station to discuss the rising cost of energy and its effect on the economy. Boccieri campaign manager Ian Walton told PolitickerOH.com that Emmanuel's flight was delayed and the congressman was stuck on the tarmac, and was therefore unable to attend the event.

Schuring said in a statement that the event was evidence that Washington is broken, has lost its ability to plan and use common sense to solve problems. He said the Boccieri event was to warn of an energy crisis.

"The people of this district already know we have an energy crisis and what they want are leaders who will work to solve this problem and allow us access to our own natural resources," Schuring said. "I have been listening to what people throughout the district say about the energy crisis we face and soon I will be unveiling my energy platform. It will be results based strategy with short term objectives and long term goals."

State Sen. John Boccieri: speaking with motoristWEST CANTON -- State Sen. John Boccieri (D-New Middletown) spoke at a Sunoco station Tuesday morning to discuss the matter of high gas prices and its effect on the economy. Boccieri called for the development of alternative sources of energy and energy innovation in Ohio.

Boccieri was joined by Canton Mayor William Healy (D-Canton) and is running against State Sen. Kirk Schuring (R-Canton) to replace retiring U.S. Rep. Ralph Regula (R-Navarre).

Boccieri called for a change in Congress, saying, with regard to the "skyrocketing gas prices," that "enough is enough."

"We need a Congressman who's going to stand up and say no to big oil," he said. "That it's time to put America first. [A congressman] who will stand up and say no to hedge fund managers, who are speculating and driving the price of a barrel of crude oil to new record levels at $143 dollars just yesterday."

Boccieri said his opponent would talk about drilling, but "we can't drill our way out of this dilemma."

"In fact, the top oil executives of the country are saying that if we start drilling in ANWAR, if we started drilling today, we wouldn't receive a drop of oil from there for nearly 15 to 20 years," he said. "We need relief now. And we need American policies that put Americans first."

The ballot measure that will decide whether California openly allows gay marriage will be known as Proposition 8.

That and the 10 other ballot measures state voters will see in November received their number designations from the California Secretary of State's office Friday, after the period to qualify or place a measure for the general election ballot ended Thursday.