Kern states its case at economic summit

Oct. 28—Kern County leaders made their case Thursday — not once or twice, but over and over — on the opening day of the California Economic Summit in downtown Bakersfield.

Their message to the many hundreds of people in attendance varied according to who was delivering it, but basically it came down to this: Kern is carrying the rest of the state with respect to agriculture and energy, and it's time to even things up.

Local representatives opened with friendliness inside the Mechanics Bank Theater and Convention Center. A credit union leader, followed by a labor union executive and then a chamber of commerce CEO, emphasized the county's neighborliness and affordability, its unsurpassed productivity and its vision for shared prosperity.

Soon came the harder edge, starting with a morning speech by Assemblyman Vince Fong. After voicing his disappointment that Gov. Gavin Newsom was not planning to address the summit attended by senior officials from across the state, the Bakersfield Republican accused the administration of pursuing policies that he said jeopardize the county's ability to continue leading the state in ag and energy, including renewable power.

Fong reiterated concerns often made locally — that continuing to restrict local oil production makes California increasingly dependent on foreign and unreliable sources, and that not enough taxpayer money is being invested in water storage and conveyance infrastructure.

He accused Newsom of ignoring economic realities Kern industry stands ready to address, adding, "splashy headlines don't keep the lights on."

A parade of Kern's diverse constituencies took the stage soon after, led by Chancellor Sonya Christian of the Kern Community College District. Each speaker, representing a different local institution or agency, said the county is "creating our future."

The biggest crowd-pleaser of the morning went on shortly afterward. Civil rights icon Dolores Huerta presented a view distinct from that of Fong, but even she called on the state to recognize and take action on problems that linger in Kern.

Critical of the oil industry, particularly its efforts to steer taxpayer investment toward a technology for addressing climate change called carbon capture and sequestration, Huerta called on state government to increase funding for education, pollution reduction and to addressing racism.

She kept to her roots in the farmworker movement, saying firefighters and police officers are essential workers, but that "I can't think of anyone more essential than people that feed us."

Before leading the audience in the kind of call-and-response routine for which she is well-known, Huerta advocated accelerating the shift toward greater use of green energy and away from oil, saying California's energy transition is "going to be the model for the country."

Next up was Chairman Zack Scrivner of the county Board of Supervisors, whose message largely mirrored a letter sent last week to organizers of the summit, California Forward. Noting more than 60 percent of the state's renewable energy originates in Kern, he asserted Sacramento's ambitious climate goals "can't be accomplished without us."

Scrivner said the Newsom administration's affronts to the oil industry threaten the roughly $200 million per year in property taxes paid by local petroleum producers. He pointed out, too, that a state exemption allowing solar developers to avoid paying property taxes on the bulk of their installations costs the county about $20 million annually.

"The question we want to (raise at) this economic summit session is this: How do we achieve fiscal equity as well as environmental justice (within) the state's policies?" Scrivner asked.

None of this was lost on the event's emcee, California Forward CEO Micah Weinberg, who took the opportunity right after Scrivner's speech to say the event was "keeping it real."

"We are putting it all on the table this morning," he said.

It was still on the table hours later at an afternoon working session titled "Building a Sustainable Energy Future," where Director Lorelei Oviatt of the Kern County Planning and Natural Resources Department joined a four-person panel.

She quickly made the county's case that Kern's promotion of renewable energy, at a time when other parts of the state shun large investments in solar arrays, has led to an imbalance that must be rectified for the sake of "fiscal equality along with environmental justice."

Others on the panel agreed there must be equity for regions that have contributed to the degree Kern has. But Oviatt seemed to find a foil in panelist Dara O'Rourke, an environmental scientist at UC Berkeley and former official at Amazon.

O'Rourke noted California is on a path to deprecating the state's oil and gas industry, even as he said some oil producers are actively trying to stall the transition. With the transition begun, he said, "now we really do have to get on the nitty-gritty on the ground."

Oviatt pushed back on the notion that investments elsewhere in the Central Valley necessarily help Kern, noting that property and sales taxes do not generally cross county borders. She said the way forward will require working with the private sector.

"There is no pathway," she said, "without the oil industry."