Join me on Wednesday: A climate forum with California's next governor
I'm sitting down with Xavier Becerra, Katie Porter, Tom Steyer and Eric Swalwell. Watch live on YouTube.
How can California accelerate the transition to cheaper, cleaner energy? How do we make sure low-income communities of color aren’t left behind? And who is willing to hold fossil fuel companies accountable?
Those are some of the questions I’m excited to ask the leading candidates for Golden State governor this Wednesday, at a forum hosted by California Environmental Voters. I’m grateful they asked me to co-moderate with Louise Bedsworth, executive director of UC Berkeley’s Center for Law, Energy & the Environment.
We’ll be sitting down with four top-polling Democrats: Xavier Becerra, former U.S. secretary of health and human services; Katie Porter, a former member of Congress from Orange County; Tom Steyer, a billionaire investor and climate activist; and Eric Swalwell, a current member of Congress from the Bay Area. (The leading Republican candidates, Chad Bianco and Steve Hilton, declined to participate.)
The forum will be livestreamed from 4-5:30 p.m. Wednesday; click here to register for an email reminder. Or just open this link to watch on YouTube.
The last few years, California’s global climate leadership has been slipping. As heat waves, fires and storms get fiercer and deadlier, it’s crucial that our next governor do everything possible to pick up the pace and — to use one of Gavin Newsom’s favorite expressions — meet the moment.
I’m genuinely curious what we’ll hear from the candidates on Wednesday.
And the winners are…
A couple months ago, I asked readers to brainstorm new versions of expressions like “cooking with gas” and “burning the midnight oil,” to help rid the English language of the stench of fossil fuels. Then I chose my favorite entries and asked you all to vote in a poll and select the very best ones.
Now the results are in!
The runaway champion? “Battery’s empty” as a substitute for “out of gas.” Second place went to “powering past midnight” for “burning the midnight oil,” followed by “cooking with kilowatts” for “cooking with gas.”
Thank you to everyone who who played along. I had fun, and I hope you did too.
As promised, the people who came up with the winning expressions are receiving free one-year paid subscriptions to Climate-Colored Goggles.
Next game: Use some of these expressions in your daily life! The finalists were:
For “cooking with gas”: cooking with solar, cooking with magnets, cooking with kilowatts
For “burning the midnight oil”: burning the midnight battery, powering past midnight
For “well-oiled machine”: frictionless machine, well-wired machine
For “out of gas”: battery’s empty, out of electrons
For “step on the gas”: rev the EV, time to pump electrons
The Bolt is no longer back
When I visited the LA Auto Show in November, the Chevrolet exhibit was one of the few highlights. Chevy had seven fully electric vehicles on display — more than Toyota and Ford combined — and a big sign trumpeting the return of the Bolt, its popular EV hatchback. Amid a gloomy year for electric cars in the U.S., it was encouraging to see Chevy (and its parent company General Motors) stepping up.
So much for that.
Bloomberg reports that GM is once again ditching the Bolt. The vehicle’s triumphant return will likely last a mere 18 months, as the automaker pivots to building more gas-fueled SUVs at an assembly plant in Kansas.
The rest of my story from the Auto Show is still relevant:
In other news
Water in the West:
Water, water everywhere, and nary a foot of snow? High temperatures are fueling low snowpack from California to the Rockies, which is terrible for water supplies. (Ian James, L.A. Times)
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum is calling seven governors to Washington, D.C., to try to break a logjam in Colorado River negotiations. Gavin Newsom won’t be attending. (Ian James, L.A. Times)
The Trump administration has signed off on California’s largest reservoir since 1978. Newsom supports it too. Construction on Sites Reservoir could begin next year. (Kurtis Alexander, San Francisco Chronicle)
The great outdoors:
For decades, the U.S. Forest Service has done a poor job of maintaining roughly 160,000 miles of trails — and the problem is getting much worse under President Trump. (Dillon Osleger and Jeremy Clark, RE:PUBLIC)
The National Park Service is trying to erase climate education in South Carolina, removing signage about sea level rise at the historic Civil War site of Fort Sumter. (Maxine Joselow, New York Times)
Outdoor apparel company Patagonia is suing environmental activist and drag queen Pattie Gonia for trademark infringement. Patagonia claims Pattie Gonia violated their agreement about merchandising. (Blake Brittain, Reuters)
Trump stuff:
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. wants us to eat more meat, which would hasten climate destruction. (Oliver Milman, the Guardian)
Congress set aside funds for carbon capture. The Trump administration is using the money to prop up old coal plants. (Hannah Northey, E&E News)
Trump campaigned on a pledge to cut energy bills in half during his first year in office. Would you believe electric bills went up 6.7%? (Oliver Milman and Dharna Noor, the Guardian)
State by state:
Leading Massachusetts Democrats are pushing to roll back climate targets and slash energy efficiency funding. (Sarah Shemkus, Canary Media)
A bill proposed in California would waive regulations for billions of dollars in climate investments, with a goal of disbursing the money faster. (Nadia Lathan, CalMatters)
New Jersey’s new governor, Mikie Sherrill, started her term by ordering a freeze on utility rate hikes and launching solicitations for new solar and battery storage. (Ted Sherman, NJ.com)
Last and absolutely least, the Trump administration deemed it a wise use of taxpayer dollars to create a cartoon mascot for “energy dominance.” It is a lump of coal named “Coalie.” No, I’m not making this up. Hannah Northey had the story for E&E News.