UCS Success Stories
Engaging and Mobilizing for "No on Prop. 23"
From Arcata to Zenia, Californians have held nearly 80 house parties in the past weeks to urge friends and neighbors to vote no on Proposition 23 in the November general election. Why? Prop. 23 would essentially repeal California’s landmark clean energy law, threatening the state’s environment and economy. So who would benefit? Out-of-state oil companies—Valero and Tesoro from Texas and Koch Industries from Kansas—which have spent millions to promote the measure. These companies are among the biggest polluters nationally and in California.
“We’re sending a simple message: Vote no on Proposition 23,” said Masada Disenhouse, a house party host in La Mesa in San Diego County. “These out-of-state oil companies have a lot of nerve trying to interfere with our clean energy law. They want to stamp out competition from renewable energy, like wind and solar, and continue to foul our air with their dirty fossil fuel emissions.”
Attendees at the parties, organized by the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), watched a new mini-documentary about Prop. 23, learned why defeating it is so important for California and the rest of the country, and shared tools for increasing voter turnout to defeat the proposition at the November polls.
“These house parties were a great way to educate Californians about Prop 23’s threat to our economy and environment, motivate them to vote no, and encourage them to tell their friends to vote no,” said Erin Rogers, manager of the UCS western climate and energy program.
Besides the house parties, UCS coordinated larger, more public events at Tree People in Coldwater Canyon Park in Los Angeles, Chabot Space and Science Center in Oakland, and Davis Community Church in Davis. California State Senator Fran Pavley (D-Santa Monica) spoke at the Coldwater Canyon Park event.
