A few days ago, a friend reached out to show me a strange, unsolicited text message: It warned that the Santa Barbara City Council would soon be voting to ban gas hookups in new buildings. This policy has already been adopted in 40 cities across California. Yet, the text claimed the consequences for our community would be dire: dramatic energy costs, electrical grid dangers, oh my!
The message directed its recipients to go to the Californians for Balanced Energy Solutions (C4BES) website, where they could write to the Santa Barbara City Council to oppose the measure. I immediately had a hunch who was behind these text messages: SoCalGas.
With the help of PR consultants, SoCalGas created and funded C4BES. It is, in effect, a front group that aims to hide its motives and funders, in this case SoCal Gas’s interest in keeping California dependent on fossil fuels. They have used our utility payments, which we have to make month after month as ratepayers, to do it. It’s important to remember that SoCalGas is a monopoly. In our region, if you buy gas to heat your home or cook your food, you have to pay them money. There is no other choice. And they are using some of the money you pay to delay and weaken climate action. As many have pointed out, this is wrong.