On Nov. 2nd, voters in California chose a clear path to clean energy and a growing green economy by defeating Prop 23, one of the most brazen attacks on climate and energy legislation. Californians sent a message that clean energy is not only good for the environment, it’s also vital to the state’s economic future.

Prop 23’s backers – mostly out-of-state oil companies – aimed to suspend AB 32 California’s landmark legislation to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase renewable energy that made the state a model for energy innovation, and which helped spur the remarkable growth of the state’s cleantech industry.

The clean and renewable energy sector has become integral to the future of many local economies across the country,