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21st Century Muckrakersof the legislative process, there wouldbe even less of a chance for opposingviews to be publicly aired and coveredby the news media. Yet it seemed vitalthat consumers understood what wasabout to happen.Given my years of energy reportingin California, I could spot severalwarning signs early on; others tookadditional reporting to uncover. Thefirst red flag was visible right away.Positing this biofuels policy as atechnical solution to a multilayeredand complex set of energy and environmentalproblems was too goodto be true. Soon, the second red flagemerged when, a few days after hisannouncement, the governor issuedallows for a public airing and debateabout proposed statutory provisions.Furthermore, interactions amongstakeholders during hearings provideclues into what is going on behind thescenes from highlighting what really isat stake to showcasing the inevitablejockeying for power.The importance of such open andpublic decision-making hit homefor me well before the biofuels beatgrew in importance and complexity.When I covered California’s 2000-01energy crisis—a time when informationblackouts were far more prevalentthan power outages—then GovernorGray Davis and his top staff secretlynegotiated at breakneck speed $42governor pledged that rules wouldbe developed to ensure carbon-lightbiofuels would slash 13 million metrictons of carbon emissions in 13 years.By using crops and other plants tofuel transportation, Schwarzeneggerintimated that Californians would notneed to alter their energy-consumptivelifestyles.Red flag number three then surfaced.Although oft repeated, the devil is inthe details, yet few specifics abouthow any of this would work emergedat or after the governor’s announcement.Given the complexity and highstakes of this proposed developmentof a statewide alternative fuels policy,there was sure to be a lot of powerbrokering going on behind the scenes.To keep an eye on all of this, the presswatchdog was needed.Questions to Be AskedA woman in Indonesia harvests palm to be used as a biofuel. Photo by Tom Picken/Friendsof the Earth.an executive order—effective immediately—mandatingthat Californiaregulators create the low carbon liquidfuel standard blueprint.An executive order isn’t vetted asan actual bill would be over a courseof weeks and months. While the legislativeprocess is slower and morechallenging, it is also more open—fortaxpayers and the press. I’ve watchednumerous bills get tangled in tit-fortatlegislative politics and, in the end,be tabled. But the deliberative processbillion worth of energy contracts.Many of these deals were overpricedand mismatched to the state’s energydemand, and they significantly alteredthe energy landscape. It took utilitycustomers years to pay off the tab(and cost Davis his job). This debaclehighlighted the critical role the presshas to play in monitoring this kind ofclose-to-the-vest dealmaking and theabsolute necessity of public access tosuch information.Fast-forward to 2007, when thisAs our staff reported this story forCalifornia Energy Circuit, a subscription-basedand ad-free independentjournal read by those with a stake inenergy issues in the West, we sat inon obscure meetings. We read densereports. We asked questions—lots ofthem—of scientists and other energyexperts. We also spent time figuringout how the terms of the debate werebeing defined—and by whom. We didthis because defining terms matters alot in this new energy arena. How aparticular word is defined and usedaffects decision-making and its implementation.As development of regulationsbegan, a lot of assumptions were onthe table. Primary among them wasthat fuels made from corn, sugar cane,soybeans and other plants would helpto slow climate change. Initial testsshowed that corn-based ethanol fuelproduces fewer carbon emissions thangasoline. However, the formula failedto take into account what happenswhen fields to grow corn expand intorainforests, wetlands and other sensitivelands. Add in those factors, andoverall carbon emissions are higher.On the global front, the expansionof crops to create biofuels to feedcars instead of people—supported by68 Nieman Reports | Summer 2009