Welcome Back to Newsom News Now
The Good - Some of The Governor's State of the State
The Bad - Newsom Administration Continues to Subsidize Polluting Industries
What We're Keeping Our Eyes On - Will Newsom Support Rooftop Solar?
Welcome back to Newsom News Now! As we mentioned in the inaugural edition, this newsletter will be published once every other month. Newsom News Now is aimed at tracking the Newsom Administration's performance on key environmental and climate change issues.
Just like our Capitol Voice, this newsletter is written jointly by a rotating cast of authors, including Sierra Club California Director Brandon Dawson, policy advocates, conservation organizers, and myself, the communications associate.
On March 8, Governor Newsom delivered his fourth State of the State address. The brief speech covered a range of topics, and climate was one of the first subjects broached. On climate, Newsom made some statements worth commending. Specifically, he said California needs “to be fighting polluters, not bolstering them.” He’s right.
For too long, the fossil fuel companies have had too strong an influence in California’s government. They’ve funneled millions of dollars into lobbying to stall climate legislation, all the while polluting the air and water of the most vulnerable Californians. The collective We - legislators, decisionmakers, Sierra Club members and volunteers, all Californians - must push back, reject their influence, and demand a safer, cleaner environment for future generations. Importantly, the governor recognized this in his speech.
In the same speech however, the Governor commented on the rising cost of gas, saying ”Look, no one’s naive about the moment we’re living in with high gas prices, and the geopolitical uncertainty that’s fueling them.” He then revealed that he’d be “submitting a proposal to put money back in the pockets of Californians to address rising gas prices.” The rebate, his office confirmed with reporters, would be in addition to his January proposal to suspend the gas tax increase oil and gas companies would be subject to later this year.
Notably, because gas taxes apply to oil and gas suppliers, any gas tax moratorium would only directly benefit oil and gas companies, not tax-paying Californians. The price of gas would only go down if those companies pass the savings on to customers by reducing the price of gas, which is unlikely.
In the same speech about fighting polluters and detailing the impacts the climate crisis has had on California, Newsom built on his proposal to help those polluting industries by subsidizing fossil fuels and gas powered vehicles.
If this seems contradictory to his statement about “fighting polluters”, that’s because it is. It is true that the price of gas has increased, but so has the price of milk, diapers, and other living expenses. Why give tax rebates for the one thing on that list that is destroying our planet and lungs?
A better approach would be that from Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon and Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins: lawmakers should use the state’s budget surplus to provide Californians with a rebate for relief from all rising costs, not just gas.
The Net Energy Metering (NEM) program was created by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to kickstart the rooftop solar industry in California. The program pays rooftop solar customers for excess energy they generate and export to the grid. NEM has worked fantastically and delivered over 11 GW of solar capacity to our homes and buildings.
The program does have its flaws, however, which our comments on the CPUC’s proposed decision detail.
Unfortunately, late last year, the CPUC overcorrected the NEM program and released a proposed decision that, if passed, would essentially crater the rooftop solar industry. Overwhelming public pressure has since forced the CPUC to delay voting on the proposed decision as we all anxiously wait to see what the agency will do next.
During the State of the State, Governor Newsom acknowledged the need to transition to clean energy resources urgently. But he has largely been lurking in the background on NEM so far. However, he did state earlier this year that the CPUC proposal “needed work.” So we are watching to see how the Governor uses his power and influence to advocate for an equitable NEM program that still allows for the growth of the critical rooftop solar industry in our state.
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