If the nation is, as President Bush has said, “addicted to oil,” then California may have found a cure.

On Jan. 12, the state Public Utilities Commission (PUC) approved the California Solar Initiative, authorizing the state to put $3.2 billion into solar power over the next 11 years. The amount is by far the largest investment of any state in solar power, and rivals that of any nation.

Environment California staff worked closely with PUC officials and others to develop the program, earning praise from Sen. Kevin Murray, who said, “Environment California was a great help in the fight to build 1 million solar roofs and establishing solar as a viable and reliable source of power in California.”

Here’s how the program will work:

• Over the next 11 years, the California Solar Initiative will offer homeowners, businesses, farmers and others up to $3.2 billion in rebates for new rooftop solar systems, reducing global warming pollution by one ton for every new solar roof.

• By spurring growth in the solar industry, the program will cut the cost of solar power in half within a decade and create an estimated 15,000 new jobs in California.

• Funding will come from monies already earmarked for solar power and a small surcharge that the PUC says can be absorbed into existing rates.

The program is modeled closely on the Million Solar Roofs Initiative, which came close to passage in the Legislature last fall. Environment California’s Bernadette Del Chiaro helped craft that measure as well as the new California Solar Initiative. Here’s the background:

• Coming on the heels of the 2002 energy crisis, Environment California staff spearheaded passage of the California Clean Energy Law, committing the state to a goal of 20 percent clean, renewable energy by 2013.

• To help put solar power—the cleanest, most abundant form of renewable energy—front and center among renewable energy options, Environment California worked with Sen. Murray in 2003 on legislation requiring new homes to install solar panels.

• Under pressure from the home-building industry, lawmakers let the bill die. But in his campaign for governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger embraces the idea, making it a centerpiece of his platform.

• While the new governor mentions the solar roofs plan in his first State of the State address, the bill languishes again in the Legislature. In the summer of 2004, Environment California launches our “Solar-nator” tour, calling on the governor to step up his efforts. The governor calls an emergency meeting to revive the bill in August, but once again the bill dies.

• In 2005, we work with the governor’s staff to expand the bill’s scope: the solar roofs bill is now the Million Solar Roofs Initiative. Del Chiaro meets with editorial boards throughout the state, earning endorsements from all of California’s major newspapers, researches a set of reports on the positive economics of solar, and leads a campaign that mobilizes 100,000 Environment California members and others to write, e-mail or call their elected officials. Yet again, the bill dies at the 11th hour.

• As soon as the session ends, Del Chiaro begins work with PUC officials on a plan to use their administrative authority to adopt key elements of the Million Solar Roofs Initiative. With the governor’s support, the PUC adopts our recommendations on Jan. 12.

“This is a giant step toward global warming solutions and real energy independence,” says Del Chiaro. “But there’s more for all of us—lawmakers, municipalities and California residents included—to do. Pushing past the politics and powerful interests that stand in the way of a bright future for solar power remains a top priority.”