Photo: https://www.techspot.com/news/103473-nasa-spin-off-new-robot-can-explore-oceans.html
Welcome back to The Sunstone Way, and welcome to 2025!
I can’t remember the last time I was this excited to start a new year. There is a great energy in the air. That’s especially true in California, the real Sunshine State (sorry Florida).
Big Investment
This past election, California voters approved a $10 billion bond issue to address impacts from climate change. It passed by a nearly 20% margin, indicating the mindset of Californians. Those impacts range from water supplies to renewable energy, with a chunk set aside to fight wildfires.
Here is the general breakdown of where the money goes.
$3.8 billion for water projects; half to improve water quality, half to protect from floods and droughts, and restoring rivers and lakes.
$1.95 billion for wildfire and extreme heat abatement projects.
$1.9 billion on natural lands, parks and wildlife projects.
$850 million on clean energy projects, and
$300 million on agricultural projects.
Long-term Goals
In the proposition’s language, the connection between clean energy and mitigating impacts of climate change is stressed.
“The 2022 Scoping Plan for Achieving Carbon Neutrality focuses on the importance of investing in strategies for reducing California’s dependency on petroleum, including transitioning to clean energy options that address climate change, improve air quality, and support economic growth and clean sector jobs. Without intervention, the cost of climate change to California is estimated to reach $113,000,000,000 annually by 2050, according to the Natural Resources Agency’s California’s Fourth Climate Change Assessment.”
It is literally a law of physics that nothing can move without energy being expended. Fossil fuels have been our primary source of energy for at least 200 years, since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. We’re paying the price for that choice today.
The good news is that we now have the technology to efficiently create energy while limiting or eliminating the pollution responsible for global warming. Even better, there are multiple ways to generate that energy – solar, wind, geothermal, hydraulic, clean fuel cells including hydrogen, even new nuclear technologies.
California State of Mind
Our home state long has been the leader in cutting-edge climate and energy technology. That is one of the reasons why California is the fifth largest economy in the world with a 2023 GDP of nearly $3.9 trillion. Only China, Germany, Japan and of course the United States as a whole, are larger.
Particularly in Southern California, our climate is very conducive to alternative sources of energy. There are an average of 263 sunny days a year in Los Angeles. There are many places where the wind blows consistently. Researchers like Seatrec have shown that the Pacific Ocean can be an untapped source of energy in several ways.
Seatrec is an example of the creative brain power residing in California ready and willing to explore new ways to power our world. Seatrec found Yi Chao worked for years at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory at the California Institute of Technology – one of the premier institutions in the world for scientific exploration. The California State University system and the University of California network are supplemented by world-respected schools like USC, Stanford and more.
Long Beach’s Port of Long Beach is known as the Green Port, and is an industry leader in electrification of on-dock movement of cargo. It and the Port of Los Angeles have invested millions of dollars in infrastructure and support for research into hydrogen and LNG fuels to reduce greenhouse gases in the industry-leading Clean Air Action Plan.
California has been, and will continue to be, a true leader guiding the world toward a more climate- and environmentally-friendly future.
Guiding Light
I recently told the story here about how the Vikings used Sunstones to navigate the ocean when the sun was covered by clouds. We want to do the same, at least metaphorically, as we seek a future of clean energy.
The sun and its natural energy are both goals and a symbol. We need guidance – and we want to offer guidance – in the quest for a more sustainable future. Working together with our partners (including you), we can make 2025 a bright year.
That’s the Sunstone Way. We hope you’ll join us. Happy New Year.
And remember, always be a Sunstone!
John Keisler
CEO & Managing Partner
Sunstone Management, Inc.
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©Sunstone Management, Inc. 2025