California’s energy and environmental priorities for 2020? Fires, climate change, infrastructure
Note to readers: Each week through December 2019, a selection of our 101 California Influencers answers a question that is critical to California’s future. Topics include education, healthcare, environment, housing and economic growth.
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California Influencers this week answered the following question: What should the most important priority in the area of environmental and energy policy be for Governor Newsom and the State Legislature in 2020? Below are the Influencers’ answers in their entirety.
Break oil and gas’ hold on California decision makers
Kathryn Phillips – Director, Sierra Club California
We need Governor Newsom and the legislature to set a hopeful and exciting vision for the future where all Californians have a clean and healthy environment. That requires boldly breaking the oil and gas industry’s harmful hold on California’s decision makers and accelerate the transition to renewable electrification, including in the transportation sector, and invest so that the transition comes with good, clean family-supporting jobs. The Governor and the legislature must overtly recognize the intersectionality of social justice, workplace fairness, equity and a healthy environment. If they do, they will see that the oil and gas industry underpins and promotes the worst features in society. If we can overcome that industry’s harmful hold, we can build a better, fairer California and survive and thrive together despite the specter of climate change.
“Allow common sense back into our energy and environmental policy”
Catherine Reheis-Boyd – President, Western States Petroleum Association
It’s a priority to ensure that when the people of our state flick a switch, turn on a furnace or pull up to a pump, they will have access to safe, reliable and affordable energy. The best way to make that happen in 2020 and beyond is to allow common sense back into our energy and environmental policy discussions.
If we don’t start speaking to each other instead of over one another, our state’s families will face more restrictions and higher costs for their access to energy. My Sac Bee Influencer colleagues, most policy makers and I may be able to afford those higher costs or a new electric vehicle, but California’s working families cannot.
Without common sense, workers and businesses large and small will be hit by “bans” that will have only one meaningful effect — hundreds of thousands of energy employees out of work, which would devastate their families and communities. There is nothing “just” in that transition.
It doesn’t have to be this way. Our sustainable future can be built on thoughtful policy, innovative progress and common sense that doesn’t disrupt lives and cause real hardship for everyday Californians.
Plastic is an overlooked challenge
Ben Allen – California State Senator (D-Santa Monica)
We cannot deny the existential threat posed by climate change. California has played an important leadership role in this area but there is still so much more to do. There is another environmental threat that deserves attention: our mounting waste challenge, at the heart of which is our addiction to single-use plastics. Only nine percent of the world’s plastic gets recycled and nearly eight million tons flow into our waterways every year. That plastic then breaks down into smaller pieces over time and leeches into our food and water supply. Studies show that Americans ingest 74,000 microplastic particles every year, absorbing unknown quantities of harmful chemicals. Yet there is a way forward – by passing SB54/AB1080 we can implement common sense policies that ensure that more plastics in our marketplace are recycled, reused, or composted, reduce our reliance on single-use throwaway plastic, and stem the tide of plastic waste polluting our environment.
“Implement a sustainable water resilience portfolio”
Brent Hastey – President, Association of California Water Agencies
California’s defining resource is water. I encourage Governor Newsom and the State Legislature to implement a sustainable water resilience portfolio equally beneficial to California’s economy and environment.
I applaud the Newsom Administration’s efforts to develop a Water Resilience Portfolio for the 21st Century, and I recommend the plan empower local water agencies with new tools to sustainably manage our state’s water challenges.
The plan should enhance our current set of tools; Delta conveyance, storage, water reuse, desalination, water use efficiency, flood risk management, stormwater capture, headwaters management, regional coordination, ecosystem restoration, improved weather forecasting and safe drinking water.
The portfolio should include complementary projects, programs and strategies that align water management, infrastructure and environmental values to ensure all Californians have clean, secure sources of water, and can respond to the realities of a changing climate.
The Voluntary Agreements in development for the Bay-Delta are an example of a collaborative,comprehensive and effective approach to water management. These efforts represent a promising initiative to sustainably improve the Bay-Delta’s ecosystem while ensuring water reliability for California’s agriculture and urban communities.
We need a “million solar batteries” initiative
Bernadette Del Chiaro – Executive Director, California Solar and Storage Association
California needs to put forward energy solutions that are as big as the problems that need to be solved. Toward that end, Governor Newsom should announce a plan to build a million solar batteries, creating more resilient and sustainable homes, businesses and communities throughout California. Local, smart energy resources like solar roofs and garage energy storage units can transform our energy system into one that puts consumers first, keeps the lights on for everyone, helps prevent more grid-caused disasters, and is one of the most concrete and tangible ways to engage everyone in fighting climate change. Like what Governor Schwarzenegger did for solar panels in the wake of the last PG&E crisis of 2001, Governor Newsom can do for energy storage. A clear and sustained initiative would give companies the certainty they need to ramp up manufacturing, streamline installations, and lower costs. The cost of going solar dropped 80% due to the million solar roofs initiative. We can do the same for energy storage.
Setting ambitious targets is not enough. California needs a roadmap and a plan to get there
V. John White – Co-founder and Executive Director, Center for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Technologies
California has adopted a wide range of incentive programs and market mechanisms to help achieve the state’s ambitious climate change and clean energy targets. But setting targets and adopting programs do not ensure we will achieve these ambitious goals. Governor Newsom and the Legislature should enact a climate and clean energy implementation plan to guide the transition away from fossil fuels to clean, renewable energy for transportation, buildings, and the electric grid.
A California climate and clean energy implementation plan would bring together all of the various regulations, incentives and market mechanisms, with benchmarks to measure progress and back sliding, to enable course corrections and policy innovations. According to a recent report by Next 10, we are falling behind in reducing emissions. In the power sector, we need thousands more megawatts and a balanced portfolio of renewables, along with large scale, long duration energy storage. And we need to plan for the orderly phase out of natural gas for reliability, and rapidly expand the deployment of micro grids in areas at risk for wildfire power system shut offs.
Achieve carbon neutrality with bold leadership
Tammy Tran – Senior Manager of Community Engagement, Southern California Edison
I believe the most important priority, as it relates to the environment and energy, is combating climate change and reducing air pollution. The world is within a narrow window of preventing catastrophic effects from climate change. We have seen how wildfires and extreme weather are just the latest in a mounting stream of climate emergencies. California is well-positioned with some of the most ambitious environmental goals in the world, aiming to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2030, and 80 percent by 2050. We need bold leadership from all sectors and across diverse and local communities to accelerate efforts to achieve carbon neutrality. It must done in the most efficient, equitable, and economical way forward. The challenge will be to address both the immediate impacts of climate change we are already experiencing as well as investing in our local communities to strengthen their readiness and resiliency. #WeAreStillIn
Defend California’s right to set emissions standards
Jim Newton – Editor in Chief, Blueprint magazine, UCLA
In my view, the most important short-term environmental priority for Newsom and the Legislature next year is the defense of California’s right to set and enforce emission standards under the Clean Air Act. That right, recognized by presidents as conservative as Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan, has allowed California to pioneer clean air for the rest of the country for decades, and it is vitally pressing right now, as the nation and world confront climate change. Protecting it won’t be easy with a president as recklessly stupid on this issue as Donald Trump, but Trump’s shortcomings only make California’s role more important. Some auto companies will balk – they already have – but California is too big a market to ignore, and its role on this question is long established. Leaders here need to show ingenuity and resolve to get this done.
“Resolve our water challenges and needs”
Kristin Olsen – Supervisor (First District), Stanislaus County
Water. The State must advance a comprehensive water policy to resolve our water challenges and needs for the present and future, and it needs to be one that doesn’t pit regions against one another.
“Take action to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels”
Kevin de Leon – Senate President pro Tempore Emeritus
The transportation sector continues to be California’s largest source of toxic emissions, and the single greatest hurdle to achieving our climate goals. Whether it’s incentivizing local governments to build better public transit, sending stronger market signals to drive emissions down, or clearing the path for zero-emission ground shipping - the legislature must dig into this issue immediately. Now is the time for big, bold solutions; no half-measures. The jaw-dropping beauty of California’s natural environment will be short-lived if we don’t take action to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels for transportation. It’s that simple.
“Double-down on renewable energy”
Danielle Osborn Mills – Director, American Wind Energy Association of California; Principal, Renewable Energy Strategies
California has become a global climate leader over the last decade, setting ambitious goals and making the right choices to hit our targets. The State power grid now uses more energy from carbon-free resources than from fossil fuels, and California is now home to five times as many clean energy jobs as it has in the fossil fuels industry. But it’s far too early to declare victory. If California is serious about climate change, we need to double-down on renewable energy. Near-term decisions will dictate our long-term trajectory, and renewable energy has proven to be the cheapest and most cost-effective way to knock carbon off the system.
To hit California’s climate targets, California’s leaders should focus on three priorities.
Modernize the grid to prevent wildfires and minimize disruptive power shutoffs. Harnessing the west’s enormous renewable potential requires transmission upgrades to deliver cheap renewable power to all Californians.
Provide clear directives that accelerate deployment of renewable energy, helping other high-energy, carbon-intensive sectors like transportation and buildings to reduce their greenhouse gas impacts.
Embrace all available options for clean, reliable energy—from utility-scale power to local microgrids—including the enormous potential of regional renewable energy and offshore wind.
Rather Than Passing More Big Mandates, Manage the Policies in Place
Dave Puglia – Executive Vice President, Western Growers Association
California’s private sector employers consistently plead for regulatory relief from Sacramento. No other state has done as much in the modern era to impose sweeping environmental mandates on its economy, and businesses of all sizes struggle to keep up with the rules and requirements as well as the high operating costs that tie back to these policies. In my own industry, multigenerational family farmers are increasingly investing in land and partnerships outside of California where farmers can farm rather than act as full time regulatory compliance officers.
Perhaps 2020 would be a good time for the Governor and Legislature to stand back and conduct an objective assessment of the environmental and energy policies that are unique to California, to focus more on understanding their cumulative impact on companies of all sizes and sectors, and to manage their implementation with 360 degree vision. As a signal, this would calm private sector worries about the long-term viability of doing business in California.
Develop a 21st century electrical grid
Lea-Ann Tratten – Partner, TrattenPrice Consulting
California is a 21st century economy with a 20th century electric grid. High heat and winds and improper maintenance of energy lines have caused destruction to communities across the state. We must rethink how we deliver energy while investing heavily to prevent future wildfires. One wildfire can threaten an entire year’s worth of greenhouse gas emissions reductions, with more than 45 million metric tons of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere in 2018 from wildfires alone. As we move into transportation electrification, it is imperative we develop an electrical grid that can accommodate all our energy needs in a reliable, equitable and carbon free manner. Without changes, we are doomed to repeat our mistakes.
Reprioritize existing utility funds to support infrastructure
James Gallagher – California State Assemblyman (R-Yuba City)
Senator Nielsen and I will be introducing legislation that seeks to reprioritize existing utility funds so that more money goes into updating and hardening infrastructure. We also will seek to put more dollars into forestry and vegetation management practices that reduce more carbon emissions per dollar spent and keep our landscapes fire safe.
“Look beyond the issues of the day and be proactive, not reactive”
Bob Hertzberg – California State Senator (D-Van Nuys)
When it comes to energy and the environment, the impulse may be to only address what’s grabbing the headlines: public safety power shutoffs (PSPS) and wildfires, for example. While these are critically important issues to tackle, we have an opportunity to think more broadly.
There are much bigger picture challenges we face: we set important goals for reducing emissions and increasing the use of renewable energy sources, but are years behind in updating our infrastructure to meet those goals, and don’t have the labor force to improve it. We’ve also inadequately responded to an ever-changing energy market, causing the threat of capacity shortages. If we can’t meet the capacity challenges of today, how will we ever do so in the future, particularly with a push toward electrification in our transportation?
In this context, wildfires and PSPS are symptoms of our policy failures – not the root cause. The solution is to look beyond the issues of the day and be proactive, not reactive. We must encourage massive statewide investment – through innovative financing models – to update our infrastructure and grid, with a focus on job training, and push for better integration of our transportation, environmental, and energy goals.
Creating Policies and Funding for a Climate Resilient Future for California
Michael Mantell – President, Resources Legacy Fund
California leads the nation in responding to climate change, committed to removing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from one of the world’s largest economies. It is time for the state’s leaders to put the same focus on making California’s communities more resilient in the face of climate impacts that are already occurring. California must continue reducing GHG emissions, especially from transportation. By creating new policies and placing a $5 billion bond on the 2020 ballot, however, Governor Newsom and the Legislature can save lives and billions of taxpayer dollars by helping prevent wildfires, reduce the impacts of future droughts, and safeguard our communities from other climate-intensified natural disasters like high tides and floods. A climate resilience bond would fund forest restoration and other actions to reduce risk of catastrophic wildfire, for example, while “lifting all boats” by requiring that its investments generate public health, workforce development, and other benefits for all Californians, particularly within low-income communities. Such a clear-eyed approach—recognizing coming realities while striving for the most effective, equitable outcomes—will lead to the best future we can craft for our children and theirs.
“Real improvements need to happen before next fire season”
Rex Frazier – President, Personal Insurance Federation of California
The most important priority should be to reduce, quickly, the number of utility-caused wildfires that can cause more carbon release in a week than the annual emissions reductions from California’s green energy initiatives. System hardening and upgrades will not happen overnight, but real improvements need to happen before next fire season so that individuals, businesses and governments can get some relief from these life-changing, preventable disasters.