Hemp issue presents Whitman with green opportunity in race for California governor

Aug. 6, 2009

Allvoices contributor kimberlydvorak published a story today about Republican California gubernatorial hopeful Meg WhitmanMeg WhitmanMeg WhitmanMeg WhitmanMeg Whitman, who met with voters recently in San Diego.

According to the aforementioned report, 14-year-old Joe Naritelli apparently used the phrase “job killer” in regards to AB32, which deals with capping and trading greenhouse gas emissions. Whitman seems to have specifically acknowledged that phrase in her response to the soon-to-be high school freshman.

For those unfamiliar with AB32, it is more than just a piece of legislation that can now be a convenient scapegoat for all that is wrong with the California economy. To her credit, Whitman included the phrase "modify" and not just "revoke" when discussing the law.

AB32 attempts to deal with very serious ecological issues by combining free market principles with concern for the environment. Is it perfect? No, and that's why Whitman is smart to tell voters she will consider modifying AB32 rather than simply scrapping it.

In the long run, California's job creation model will have to come to terms with the fact that there are serious environmental consequences to decisions about production and industry. Rather than try and downplay this reality with charged slogans like "job killer," it would be refreshing to see Whitman or any other politician address the complexity of the issue by acknowledging the need for a balance between ecology and economy.

An Economic and Ecological Balancing Act

Cap-and-trade policies have their good points and bad points, but most voters would welcome improvements in the current law. Given her business success story as the former eBay CEO, Whitman's balancing of environmental issues with economic ones could be an important factor for a lot of voters come 2010.

One way that she will definitely not win any environmentally minded voters over is by injecting Texas into the debate as a role model for job creation. According to the previously cited Allvoices report, Whitman had this to say about the Lone Star State and the actions of Republican Gov. Rick PerryRick PerryRick PerryRick PerryRick Perry: “Texas has reduced excessive business regulation and reduced the state's high business taxes. As a result Texas is currently producing 80 percent of the country's new jobs.”

Texas may or may not account for that much of the nation's job growth, but what Whitman didn't mention is that Texas is a national leader in another important category: Pollution.

According to a 2008 CBS story out of Dallas, "Texans polled last spring listed the Iraq war and immigration as the nation's most pressing issues, with fewer than 4 percent saying the environment was a top concern."

Environmental awareness is much higher in California, a political reality that the Whitman campaign will have to come to terms with. One possible strategy would be to apply truly creative thinking toward solving problems that overlap and emerge with a solution that genuinely works in providing enormous job growth and building a new, environmentally positive industry.

Hemp: A Green Opportunity

For example, San Francisco Assemblyman Tom Ammiano recently introduced AB390, which would allow for the legal growing and sale of marijuana/cannabis in California. To date, not one mainstream politician has acknowledged that Ammiano's bill would open the door to a truly green opportunity: the nation’s first 21st-century hemp industry.

For those unfamiliar with the connection between hemp and cannabis, they are basically the same plant except for one very important difference: hemp doesn’t get people high. Instead, hemp seeds are high in protein, omega 3s and are generally considered by nutritionists as one of the most nutritious foods on the planet. Hemp is also a “mop crop,” meaning it can clean impurities out of nasty ecological situations. How nasty? It is being grown at the Chernobyl nuclear site to remove contaminants. Hemp also can be used in construction, the textile industry and to make paper. An untapped resource awaits the 2010 gubernatorial candidate with the vision to see the broad-based value in legalizing hemp, either as part of or separate from any cannabis or marijuana reforms.

Although Whitman has publicly stated that she is against legalizing marijuana, she is also smart enough to understand the distinction between recreational marijuana use, medical cannabis and industrial hemp. By using the kind of bold, creative, innovative and ultimately successful strategies that led her to the top of the business world, Whitman just might put herself in a position to chart the economic future of the Golden State for decades, if not centuries, to come. If she puts pragmatic solutions above political ideologies when it comes to recognizing that it is high time – pun intended – for the hemp industry to get a fair chance at competing in the free market, the people of California will certainly benefit from her time in office.

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