CA - California poised for big climate moves after Newsom backs new laws
The governor signed 75% of the major environmental bills that lawmakers sent to his desk. As for vetoes, Newsom cited enforcement, cost concerns.
California is set to take major swings at boosting renewable energy, reining in corporate emissions, safeguarding wild places and ensuring livability amid worsening climate change after Gov. Gavin Newsom signed most of the environment-related legislation lawmakers sent his way this session.
Among two dozen major climate and environment bills that landed on Newsom’s desk this year, he approved three quarters of them by the Saturday, Oct. 14 deadline.
That “cements California’s climate leadership,” said Laura Deehan, executive director of the advocacy group Environment California. But it also matters “beyond our borders,” she said, with action by one of the biggest economies in the world likely to spur similar laws in other places.
Newsom did veto six significant environment bills in recent weeks. These included proposals to make it easier for utilities to install power lines, require lead testing in some school water fountains, and prevent “forever” chemicals — known as PFAS — from spreading through the environment.
In statements explaining his vetoes the governor cited implementation and enforcement problems with several of these bills. But he also noted concerns over costs, after a summer budget session during which his office worked with lawmakers to close a $30 billion budget gap.
“The legislature sent me bills outside of this budget process that, if all enacted, would add nearly $19 billion of unaccounted costs in the budget, of which $11 billion would be ongoing,” Newsom wrote. “With our state facing continuing economic risk and revenue uncertainty, it is important to remain disciplined when considering bills with significant fiscal implications.”
Many of the bills Newsom did sign will take effect Jan. 1, with new safeguards against abandoned oil wells, harmful pesticides, water waste and more set to be in place for the new year.
Accountability for businesses
The most high-profile climate bills Newsom signed into law this year will require more transparency and accountability from businesses when it comes to how their operations affect our planet.
Under Senate Bill 253, California will become the first state with sweeping policies that require companies with annual revenues of more than $1 billion to publicly report how much greenhouse gas they generate by 2025 and how much their entire supply chains create by 2027.
“Carbon disclosures are a simple but powerful tool in the fight to tackle climate change,” said Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, who authored the bill. “When corporations are transparent about the full scope of their emissions, they have the tools and incentives to tackle them.”
Newsom also signed related S.B. 261, from state Sen. Henry Stern, D-Los Angeles, which will require companies with annual revenues of $500 million or more to disclose climate-related financial risks and the measures they’ve adopted to reduce those risks under this bill.
One measure companies have used to balance carbon emissions is buying carbon offsets, where, for example, an airline might donate to an organization that plants trees to help offset emissions from its flights. But climate advocates have raised flags about the effectiveness of the unregulated $2 billion carbon offset market for years, and newly signed A.B. 1305 establishes first-in-the-nation regulations, with new transparency and disclosure requirements for buyers and sellers of carbon offsets.
However, Newsom vetoed another law that would have gone even further by opening companies up to legal penalties if they buy or sell “junk offsets” that don’t produce the climate benefits they claim. The governor expressed concerns about “unintended consequences,” including well-intentioned companies unknowingly buying junk offsets and “creating significant turmoil in the market for carbon offsets, potentially even beyond California.”
