by the staff of El Reportero
A ballot initiative to replace California’s death penalty by 2012 was recently announced. SB 490, a bill by Senator Loni Hancock to give California voters the opportunity to vote on replacing the death penalty with life without the possibility of parole, will stay in the Assembly Appropriations Committee, informed the legislative coalition Taxpayers for Justice.
They claim to have evidence that California’s death penalty system is dysfunctional and costly. The death penalty costs California taxpayers approximately $170 million a year while a shocking 46 per cent of homicides and 56 per cent of rapes go unsolved every year in the state. The $4 billion that has been spent on 13 executions since 1978 would have been better spent on law enforcement to solve murders and get t more criminals off our streets, and on funding for our children’s schools.
California’s broken system also risks executing innocent people for crimes they did not commit. Over 100 people across the country have been wrongly sentenced to death, and some have been executed.
The coalition announced that it will take immediate steps to file a ballot initiative for the November 2012 general election.
Learn more about SB490 and the death penalty at www.taxpayersforjustice.org.
Solar Mosaic Breaks Barriers to Going Solar in Oakland
Solar Mosaic, an innovative solar finance company, just launched its first project to connect those who want to invest in solar with community building owners who can benefit from it. Often people can’t go solar because of the upfront costs or because their roofs aren’t suited for it. Oakland Solar Mosaic will create over 140 kW of solar (enough to power 28 homes) on the roofs of organizations across Oakland that serve low-income communities.
Solar Mosaic uses an online peer-to-peer lending system that allows individuals to invest in solar projects in their communities. For as little as $100, investors can create local jobs, help a community center save money, and get paid back. As Solar Mosaic co-founder, Dan Rosen, said, “Our goal is to disrupt the two largest industries on the planet: energy and finance.” The non-profit center Asian Resource Center (ARC) is the first site in Oakland to go solar by raising money on the Solar Mosaic platform. The 28.8 kW solar facility will save the building an estimated $112,684 over the lifetime of the lease.
