UPDATE: Governor Newsom Signed “Climate” Bills

By Bailey Ward, SF Bay PSR EJ Policy Associate

At the end of this legislative session Governor Gavin Newsom signed a 6-bill energy and climate policy package described as, “Landmark Clean Energy, Climate and Affordability Solutions.” Although progress has been made in some areas, this bill package is expected to be detrimental to climate progress in the state. We expect this package to hike costs on gasoline and electricity, while increasing occurrences of wildfires in the state.

Unfortunately, it looks like we have taken a step back in addressing climate issues in the state and in rejecting big oil’s control. Below is an update on some of the bills included in this package and other priority bills that have been supported by SF Bay PSR during this legislative session.

SB 237 : This bill, authored by senator Timothy Grayson, was passed in the final days of the legislative session under the guise of protecting residents from energy bills and gasoline price spikes. However, this bill is a step backwards in environmental and public health safety, as it exempts oil drilling in Kern Country from CEQA review, which allows for the drilling of thousands of additional oil wells in Kern County, an environmental justice community that has been harmed for decades by the oil industry. This bill is a much worse version of the original bills SF Bay PSR was in support of, AB 1448 and SB 542, which both failed to pass in the second house.

AB 1207: This bill, authored by Jacqui Irwin, extends the California Cap and Trade (now Cap and Invest) program to 2045. This bill structurally tends to favor gas and oil companies, while leaving environmental justice communities vulnerable. The bill preserved rules on carbon credits which will allow companies to continue polluting disadvantaged communities through free pollution permits. We hoped that Governor Newsom would have worked to improve this program to better protect environmental justice communities, but the program remains largely the same.

Although the legislative session didn’t end exactly as we hoped. There were great improvements made thanks to our various community partners, coalition groups, and community members advocating for a better climate future for all. We will continue to push for improvement in these areas over the next year. Stay up to date on our most recent actions to continue advocating for policies that benefit our communities.