I recently found out that Oakland Mayoral candidate Dan Siegel referenced CleanTechnica in his policy platform. I don’t know much about the candidates vying to be the next mayor of Oakland, so I’ll try not to go outside of my expertise commenting on this, but I thought he deserved a little bit of love for his green focus.
Siegel’s platform, titled “A 21st Century Oakland: Going Green,” starts of with this line: “It’s Time For A Real Commitment To Our Planet And Our Future.” That’s definitely something CleanTechnica agrees with. It’s rare to have a politician leading off with that, but we have to remember that this is Oakland. What about the specifics? Well, this is the next line: “Dan Siegel’s vision for Oakland is bold: transform the City into one powered wholly by renewable energy.” Hmm, I’m liking this more and more. Siegel’s more specific goal is to get Oakland to 100% renewable energy by 2025. And, yes, he is talking electricity and transportation.
“Leadership” actually seems to fit a politician for once.
The next section, which discusses the installation of solar panels and other renewables, is where Siegel references CleanTechnica. The bullet point is as such: “Lend money to fund solar installations through a special investment corporation. While a city like Oakland can borrow money at less than 4% interest per annum over 20 years, the return on investment on a solar system can be as much as 12% per year.5 If banks refuse to lend at fair interest for solar installations, the City must do so itself to encourage individuals to invest in the systems. Then, ultimately, lending can be done through Dan Siegel’s proposed Public Bank of Oakland.” The article that 5 goes to is an article that I actually wrote on CostofSolar.com and reposted here. The title: “Is Solar Worth It?” I think you can guess the answer, but that’s actually one of my favorite articles, and uses one of my favorite infographics, so I’d recommend checking it out if you haven’t yet.
The whole platform is interesting, and makes Siegel look like a very attractive candidate based on my concerns and interested. And it’s just ~6 pages of text, so go give it a read.
Not knowing that much about the candidates, I can’t actually endorse Siegel, but if I lived in Oakland, I think he’s the one I’d probably end up voting for (based on the limited research I’ve done on the competition).
Image Credit: Dan Siegel for Mayor
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