Last month, SDG&E released a report outlining its fossil-fueled vision for a “net-zero” future. Unsurprisingly, the report is full of fossil fuel industry talking points and false solutions that will keep us hooked on oil and gas for decades to come.
SDG&E’s greenwashing attempts are timely considering the recent UN IPCC report which made clear that:
we must stop burning fossil fuels immediately
we have the existing, proven technologies and policies to move toward a fossil-free economy.
SDG&E’s report heads in the exact opposite direction, lobbying elected officials to keep burning fossil fuels past 2050 and to use unproven and non-existent technologies to achieve “net-zero.”
Beware terms such as “clean fuels", “renewable natural gas,” “clean hydrogen”, and carbon capture and storage, which are meant to distract us from real decarbonization strategies. These false solutions are the next phase in a decades-long disinformation campaign by utility and energy companies.
Since the late 1960s, electric utilities and fossil fuel companies have been aware of the threat that CO2 emissions from burning fossil fuels could pose to the climate through their membership in the Edison Electric Institute. Utility companies have known, long before the public, that climate change would require them to shift away from climate-warming fossil fuels. Instead of stepping up to the plate, they’ve wasted decades sowing climate disinformation, fighting clean air regulations, and standing in the way of clean energy innovations.
The only thing stopping us from achieving a zero carbon future are fossil fuel companies like SDG&E and elected officials who appease them. As the City of San Diego completes its CAP Update and the County of San Diego finalizes the Regional Decarbonization Framework, we need your voice to stop SDG&E and its fossil fuel allies from persuading elected officials into adopting their dangerous, dead-end approaches.
We sent letters to the City and County warning them to say no to SDG&E’s greenwashing earlier this month and, on March 25th, our Policy Advocate, Serena, called into San Diego City Council meeting to express our deep disappointment that the City Council gave SDG&E an opportunity to present their greenwashing report.
We hope the City will not further entertain San Diego Gas & Electric's proposals to thwart equitable climate action and elevate false solutions to the climate crisis.
Stay tuned for ways you can help push back on fossil fuel propaganda.