Market the very idea of solar energy. The very idea that we have all the energy we need, we have to develop the technology to utilize it without at the same time filling up our atmosphere with methane and co2 and nitrogen oxide and all the other emissions and pollutants that are going to reshape what life on earth is. When you hit 400 parts per million, as we did as reported by the monitoring stations over in hawaii, it hasnt been like that for 3 or 4 million years. When it was like that 3 or 4 million years, the sea was a lot higher. The ice at the poles was a lot less. So, weve got a lot of evidence. Weve got to find now the stepbystep sequential Movement Toward the goal. And the goal is an Energy System totally compatible with the rules of nature. applause weve got to get on the side of nature. applause now, a lot of people like to have fight nature, but we are nature. When we fight nature, were fighting ourselves. Were fighting our own life support system. Thats really the challeng
So, i guess i have to expiate my Many Political sins and i spent time in the wilderness. But i am back and i can reflect on how politics work, how it worked then, whats happened in the meantime, challenges we now face. I promoted solar energy back in 1975 when i signed a law that granted a 55 tax credit to the installation of solar. That time was mostly solar hot water. But 55 was a credit, not a deduction. So, you took it right off your state income tax. Probably the biggest incentive that has ever been provided. But over the years times change, but still california at that time was leading the way in solar and building efficiency, and then very shortly after 1982 promulgated appliance efficiency standards. So, we did get the sense of Renewable Energy, efficiency, elegance in the way we handle resources. Today, of course, we know a lot more. We know about Climate Change. We know about population, several billion more. We know if the demographers are right, the world will add 2 billion
We also passed a business tax exclusion for clean tech firms in our city. Weve taken advantage of our position as being in the center for business and innovation to become a hub for International Clean tech firm. Our historic strength and our city has been in finance, and, so, solar firm are moving here to San Francisco to be close to their Financial Partners and to major utilities and Government Agencies such as pacific gas and electric, our San Francisco Public Utilities commission, our california Public Utilities commission as well as the Environmental Protection agencies. We are now home to more than 35 Solar Companies and five of the top 10 solar module manufacturers in the world have their offices here in San Francisco. Were home to energy Major Developers and installers, including sun run, sun edison, teetion energy, basse electric, [speaker not understood]. So, to the Solar Companies already here in our great city, thank you for investing in our great city. ~ teague as those wh
applause well, thank you and welcome to california. Its a great place to come and talk about solar energy because we are in the forefront of certainly the rest of the states, probably in fact, certainly in the western hemisphere, california is in the lead. And thats important. But being in the lead doesnt mean weve arrived at the goal. Got a long way to go and i hope the work you do here, the conversations, the relationships that are formed can help advance the cause of solar energy and Renewable Energy or generally. Back when i was governor the first time, that was a long time ago some of you folks werent even born then not too many. I see a few gray hairs here who are hanging around. That was a long time ago, 38 years ago, as a matter of fact. Very few people get to be governor 38 years after they first started. [laughter] with a 28year hiatus. applause so, i guess i have to expiate my Many Political sins and i spent time in the wilderness. But i am back and i can reflect on how poli
Renewable energy, efficiency, elegance in the way we handle resources. Today, of course, we know a lot more. We know about Climate Change. We know about population, several billion more. We know if the demographers are right, the world will add 2 billion people. We now have 2 billion cars. The last time there were a couple hundred million cars. In fact, cars are reproducing faster than people. [laughter] and as long as theyre using oil weve got a problem. Thats why in california we have a goal to have a million electric vehicles by 2025. applause so, thats just within the last two months, we actually recorded over 2000 megawatts of solar energy being put into the grid, which is more than [speaker not understood] provided. applause of course, the solar works for six hours or so and Nuclear Works for, you know, four times as long. However, it leaves a little bit of a tail afterwards that has to be dealt with. So, but its an important milestone. And california does have the goal of 33 Ren