As Sempra’s Aliso Canyon natural gas reserve sprang another leak this week, reigniting nosebleeds and headaches among nearby LA County residents, Consumer Watchdog released an animation featuring Governor Jerry Brown and an updated "Twelve Days of Christmas" song highlighting his support for fossil fuels and dirty energy policies.
The remake of the classy Christmas song highlights that while Brown has circled the world as an advocate against climate change, he has stood behind the fossil fuel boom in California. Consumer Watchdog says that Brown’s last year in office should be focused on correcting past mistakes and his new year’s resolution should be to shut down fossil fuel infrastructure to truly address the cause of global warming.
Listen to the song and watch the animation here.
(Lyrics & animation by Consumer Watchdog, music & vocals by Linda Good)
Lyrics to "The Twelve Days of Jerry"
On the first day of Christmas, Jerry gave to thee: a stacked board of the PUC.
On the second day of Christmas, Jerry gave to thee: power line fires and a stacked board of the PUC.
On the third day of Christmas, Jerry gave to thee: a three-billion-dollar nuke plant, power line fires and a stacked board of the PUC.
On the fourth day of Christmas, Jerry gave to thee: a fossil fuel boom, three-billion-dollar nuke plant, power line fires and a stacked board of the PUC.
On the fifth day of Christmas, Jerry gave to thee: needless refineries, a fossil fuel boom, three-billion-dollar nuke plant, power line fires and a stacked board of the PUC.
On the sixth day of Christmas, Jerry gave to thee: a cush job for his sister, needless refineries, a fossil fuel boom, three-billion-dollar nuke plant, power line fires and a stacked board of the PUC.
On the seventh day of Christmas, Jerry gave to thee: stopped regulating fracking, a cush job for his sister, needless refineries, a fossil fuel boom, three-billion-dollar nuke plant, power line fires and a stacked board of the PUC.
On the eighth day of Christmas, Jerry gave to thee: expanded offshore drilling, stopped regulating fracking, a cush job for his sister, needless refineries, a fossil fuel boom, three-billion-dollar nuke plant, power line fires and a stacked board of the PUC.
On the ninth day of Christmas, Jerry gave to thee: the biggest methane well blowout, expanded offshore drilling, stopped regulating fracking, a cush job for his sister, needless refineries, a fossil fuel boom, three-billion-dollar nuke plant, power line fires and a stacked board of the PUC.
On the tenth day of Christmas, Jerry gave to thee: fired safety inspectors, the biggest methane well blowout, expanded offshore drilling, stopped regulating fracking, a cush job for his sister, needless refineries, a fossil fuel boom, three-billion-dollar nuke plant, power line fires and a stacked board of the PUC.
On the 11th day of Christmas, Jerry gave to thee: more carbon emissions, fired safety inspectors, the biggest methane well blowout, expanded offshore drilling, stopped regulating fracking, a cush job for his sister, needless refineries, a fossil fuel boom, three-billion-dollar nuke plant, power line fires and a stacked board of the PUC.
On the 12th day of Christmas, Jerry gave to thee: cap-and-trade for kickbacks, more carbon emissions, fired safety inspectors, the biggest methane well blowout, expanded offshore drilling, stopped regulating fracking, a cush job for his sister, needless refineries, a fossil fuel boom, three-billion-dollar nuke plant, power line fires and a stacked board of the PUC.
Each stanza’s background:
1. Stacked Board of the PUC: Every single commissioner who sits on the pro-utility Public Utilities Commission is a former top aide or appointee of the Governor’s with a history of pro-industry policies. The Brown Public Utilities Commission has granted unjustified rate hikes to major investor-owned utilities, supported the fossil fuel natural gas building boom and avoided public investigations into responsibility for utility disasters. See: http://www.sacbee.com/opinion/op-ed/soapbox/article167881277.html
2. Power Line Fires: Brown vetoed a bill last year that would have forced the PUC to prioritize utility mapping of power lines in hazardous areas to determine the clearing of brush near utility lines that sparked wild fires. PG&E is now under investigation for how power lines touched off wine country fires that killed 44 people and left thousands homeless. See: http://www.sfchronicle.com/opinion/article/Failure-to-adequately-regulate-utilities-helped-12292511.php
3. $3-Billion-Dollar Nuke Plant: Brown met with the CEO of Southern California Edison for two hours in February 2013, just a month vefore an illegal deal was struck between former PUC President Michael Peevey, now under criminal investigation, and an Edison executive assigning 70 percent of the $4.7 billion tab to ratepayers to close its leaky San Onofre nuclear power plant. Brown and his PUC backed the bailout deal despite the unethical and potential criminal conduct that led to it. Litigation over the settlement terms and the release of emails between Brown’s office and the PUC is ongoing.
4. Fossil Fuel Boom: Oil drilling in California has risen 23 percent between 2009, the year before Brown was elected Governor, and the present. On Brown’s watch, ratepayers have been saddled with billions of dollars in unneeded fossil fuel-powered electric generating capacity, according to a Los Angeles Times investigation.
5. Needless Refineries: Brown’s signature legislation, SB 350, upped the state’s renewable energy requirements, but sacrificed a provision to slash the use of petroleum in cars in half by 2030. Slashing the use of petroleum in cars would lessen demand for gasoline and thus the need for refineries in the state.
6. Cush Job For His Sister: Sempra Energy, parent of Southern California Gas and Aliso Canyon gas reserve owner, has paid Jerry Brown’s sister Kathleen Brown more than $1 million in cash, stock and other benefits to serve on its board. Sempra has benefited from favorable treatment by regulators such as re-opening the Aliso Canyon natural gas reserve without knowing what caused the biggest methane blowout in US history.
7. Stopped Regulating Fracking: Unlike New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, Brown has refused to ban fracking. SB 4, California’s first law on fracking provided for minimal disclosure and passed only after a moratorium on fracking until it could be proven safe was dropped. It allowed the rubberstamping of fracking permits and mandated a study on the dangers of fracking whose results Brown has largely ignored. See:http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/report/how-green-jerry-brown
8. Expanded Offshore Drilling: Though Brown criticized the Trump Administration for allowing expansion of oil drilling in federal waters off of the California Coast, hundreds of permits have been issued for offshore oil drilling in existing leases in state waters under Brown.
9. Biggest Methane Well Blowout: Brown has protected Sempra and its subsidiary Southern California Gas from public scrutiny via an emergency declaration on the Aliso Canyon well blowout. The carefully worded declaration assured the public that a PUC “investigation” was underway. The public would get only the results. The public is still waiting.
10. Fired Safety Inspectors: In 2011, Brown fired two top oil well safety regulators at the request of Occidental Petroleum and its attorney Gray Davis. The regulators were trying to enforce rules on the books that required oil companies to prove their wells wouldn’t leak prior to obtaining permits, enraging them. Thousands of protected aquifers were poisoned as a result.
11. More Carbon Emissions: Carbon emissions from the transportation and refining sectors rose in California last year despite a cut in carbon emissions of nearly 5 percent in 2016. A surge in hydropower in the wake of drought and more renewable energy coming on line was responsible for the cut, but not regulation of carbon emissions. See: https://www.mercurynews.com/2017/12/03/opinion-gov-brown-should-stop-protecting-the-oil-industry/
12. Cap-And-Trade For Kickbacks: This year, when California extended its cap-and-trade program limiting carbon emissions via setting of limits and trading of pollution permits, Governor Brown allowed the oil and gas industry to write the rules maintaining so many loopholes and exemptions that the program is guaranteed not to work.
For more on Jerry Brown’s record on fossil fuels, see:
http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/report/browns-dirty-hands
http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/PowerPlay
YouTube: https://youtu.be/S9COeUBiNkE
Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/248356689
SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/consumerwatchdog/the-twelve-days-of-jerry
