Ambitious Climate Change Proposals

After eight months, California’s legislative session came to a close on September 1 with a final flurry of frantic activity. Lawmakers rushed to pass hundreds of remaining bills before the clock struck midnight on August 31.  

 

High-profile measures that aim to establish California as a progressive leader on climate change were sent to Governor Newsom. The Governor not only signaled his support, but lobbied lawmakers to approve them. These bills include:

 

       » SB 846, authored by Republican Assemblymember Jordan Cunningham of San Luis Obispo and Democratic state Sen. Bill Dodd of Napa, would keep the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant open until 2030 and give its operator, Pacific Gas & Electric, a $1.4 billion loan to do so. The authors argued that facing extreme heat, prolonged drought and wildfires, California has increasingly faced challenges in providing reliable electricity. Diablo Canyon provides about 10% of the state’s power. So far the state’s investments in solar and wind have lagged behind its goals.

 

Governor Newsom signed the bill on September 2. He said in his signing statement, “Climate change is causing unprecedented stress on California’s energy system and I appreciate the Legislature’s action to maintain energy reliability as the State accelerates the transition to clean energy. Senate Bill 846 facilitates the actions necessary to keep the option of (Diablo Canyon) as a statewide reliability asset beyond the current 2024-2025 retirement dates of the plant’s two units.”

 

       » AB 1279, authored by Democratic Assemblymembers Al Muratsuchi of Torrance and Cristina Garcia of Bell Gardens, codifies California’s commitment to reach carbon neutrality by 2045. To achieve this target, the state needs to reduce its fossil fuel use by 91% – a target that the California Air Resources Board has prioritized in this year’s climate change blueprint. Carbon neutrality means balancing the volume of greenhouse gases that are emitted with the amount removed from the atmosphere. It was part of the climate action plan that Governor Newsom pushed legislators in mid-August to help meet the state’s carbon-neutral goals. The bill passed and is currently awaiting the Governor’s signature.

 

The business community, including CLFP, and farmer and grower associations strongly opposed this measure. The coalition argued that there is no clear plan to achieve the goals and that the rapid transition to a carbon-free economy would cause many workers to lose their jobs. Instead, the coalition advocated for more market-based approaches that trade credits and capture and store carbon while still allowing continued use of fossil fuels.

 

       »  AB 1757, authored by Democratic Assemblymembers Cristina Garcia of Bell Gardens and Robert Rivas of Salinas, would require the state to set targets for removing planet-warming carbon from the atmosphere with nature-based methods, such as planting trees, restoring wetlands and scaling up public landscaping and urban forestry projects. Farmers and grower associations opposed the bill, saying it would be economically unfeasible for them. They say the state could develop targets based on technologies that are not accessible for most farmers and drive small farms out of business. The bill is currently on the Governor’s Desk.

 

       » SB 905, authored by Democratic state Senators Nancy Skinner of Berkeley and Anna Caballero of Merced, directs the California Air Resources Board to develop a program and set regulations for carbon capture, utilization and storage projects at polluting industries, such as oil refineries. This bill is also a part of a climate push from Governor Newsom proposed in mid-August. Some in the business community opposed the measure saying it falls short because it would stop the oil and gas industries from using the technology for enhanced oil recovery. They also say the bill delays pipelines needed to transport carbon to where it can be injected and sequestered permanently underground. The bill is currently on the Governor’s desk.

 

       » SB 1020, authored by state Sen. John Laird, a Democrat from Santa Cruz, sets interim targets for generating clean energy. The current law already requires 100% of retail electricity to be fueled by renewables such as wind and solar by 2045. This change requires 90% by 2035 and 95% by 2040. In addition, all state agencies must source their energy from 100% renewable sources by 2035, ten years sooner than the current law requires. The bill is currently on the Governor’s desk.

Not every contentious climate change proposal made it through the gantlet: SB 260 – which would have required onerous emission tracking across the entire supply chain – and AB 2133 – which would have ramped up goals for reducing greenhouse gases — failed at the last minute.

Now Governor Newsom has until the end of September to either sign or veto the bills that did pass.