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Newsom signs climate overhaul, extending cap and trade while boosting oil drilling

News Feed
Friday, September 19, 2025

In summary A set of laws Gov. Gavin Newsom signed today extends California clean-energy programs while taking steps to shore up oil and gas production. It also opens the door to a Western energy grid. Gov. Gavin Newsom today signed a sweeping package of climate and energy policies to extend the cap-and-trade greenhouse gas emissions program, increase oil drilling and allow the state to create a Western regional electricity market.  The overhaul that Newsom and top lawmakers negotiated in the final days of the legislative session amid heavy lobbying last week reflects urgency in the Democratic Party to preserve its climate goals while simultaneously reining in the surging gas and energy costs that have threatened to drive voters to the right.  Lawmakers opened the session this year declaring a focus on making California more affordable, following a bruising national election for Democrats. The energy package was central to that goal, with progressives proposing to lower costs with industry regulations. But after two years declaring special sessions targeting the oil and gas industry, Newsom began to warm up to them as oil refineries announced closures that could send gas prices spiking. As a result, one of the bills he signed Friday would boost domestic oil production in Kern County by approving a long-delayed environmental impact report for new wells.  “We have to effectively transition,” Newsom said at an event in San Francisco. “This is not an ideological endeavor. We’re in the practical application business. We’ve got to manifest our ideals and our goals. So this lays it out. But it lays it out without laying tracks over folks.” The biggest part of the complex package he signed were bills to extend the state’s cap and trade program, which since 2013 has put a price tag on carbon emissions. The program caps the amount of greenhouse gases that polluting industries can emit, and to a limited extent allows companies that cut emissions to sell permits to other companies that pollute. The program raises money for many of the state’s climate programs.  The extension leaves the program largely the same, which disappointed environmental justice advocates who argued it has allowed oil and gas to continue polluting near low-income communities. In a nod to those concerns, Newsom also signed another bill in the package that creates a state fund to monitor pollution mitigation in disadvantaged communities. He also signed two bills affecting the electricity grid. One would allow the state to create a Western regional energy market, allowing the state to trade more electricity with neighbors.  Proponents, including mainstream environmental groups, say the idea would lower prices by allowing California producers to sell excess clean energy during times the state doesn’t need it — when it’s sunny, but not hot, for example, while importing power during heat waves and other high-demand times.  The other bill aims to lower the cost of transmission infrastructure for customers by setting up a public financing system for building new power lines. It would also prevent some utilities’ wildfire mitigation costs from being passed on to customers, and replenish the state’s wildfire fund by $18 billion. The money, paid by shareholders and ratepayers over the next decade, is used to pay wildfire victims.  The package Newsom signed leaves one imminent concern unaddressed: upcoming refinery closures. Negotiations late in the legislative session to keep two Bay Area refineries open have so far failed to produce any deals.  Some Democrats simply didn’t want to give more to the oil industry, while others disagreed on how much support the state should provide, Assemblymember Lori Wilson, a Suisun City Democrat, told CalMatters last week. Wilson had been pushing for the state to support the Valero refinery in Benicia that is now set to close by the end of the year without a deal, costing the city its largest private employer.  Cayla Mihalovich is a California Local News fellow.

A set of laws Gov. Gavin Newsom signed today extends California clean-energy programs while taking steps to shore up oil and gas production. It also opens the door to a Western energy grid.

A person with gray hair wearing a dark jacket and white shirt looks slightly past the camera with their mouth slightly open, set against a blurred background.

In summary

A set of laws Gov. Gavin Newsom signed today extends California clean-energy programs while taking steps to shore up oil and gas production. It also opens the door to a Western energy grid.

Gov. Gavin Newsom today signed a sweeping package of climate and energy policies to extend the cap-and-trade greenhouse gas emissions program, increase oil drilling and allow the state to create a Western regional electricity market. 

The overhaul that Newsom and top lawmakers negotiated in the final days of the legislative session amid heavy lobbying last week reflects urgency in the Democratic Party to preserve its climate goals while simultaneously reining in the surging gas and energy costs that have threatened to drive voters to the right. 

Lawmakers opened the session this year declaring a focus on making California more affordable, following a bruising national election for Democrats. The energy package was central to that goal, with progressives proposing to lower costs with industry regulations.

But after two years declaring special sessions targeting the oil and gas industry, Newsom began to warm up to them as oil refineries announced closures that could send gas prices spiking. As a result, one of the bills he signed Friday would boost domestic oil production in Kern County by approving a long-delayed environmental impact report for new wells. 

“We have to effectively transition,” Newsom said at an event in San Francisco. “This is not an ideological endeavor. We’re in the practical application business. We’ve got to manifest our ideals and our goals. So this lays it out. But it lays it out without laying tracks over folks.”

The biggest part of the complex package he signed were bills to extend the state’s cap and trade program, which since 2013 has put a price tag on carbon emissions. The program caps the amount of greenhouse gases that polluting industries can emit, and to a limited extent allows companies that cut emissions to sell permits to other companies that pollute. The program raises money for many of the state’s climate programs. 

The extension leaves the program largely the same, which disappointed environmental justice advocates who argued it has allowed oil and gas to continue polluting near low-income communities. In a nod to those concerns, Newsom also signed another bill in the package that creates a state fund to monitor pollution mitigation in disadvantaged communities.

He also signed two bills affecting the electricity grid. One would allow the state to create a Western regional energy market, allowing the state to trade more electricity with neighbors. 

Proponents, including mainstream environmental groups, say the idea would lower prices by allowing California producers to sell excess clean energy during times the state doesn’t need it — when it’s sunny, but not hot, for example, while importing power during heat waves and other high-demand times. 

The other bill aims to lower the cost of transmission infrastructure for customers by setting up a public financing system for building new power lines. It would also prevent some utilities’ wildfire mitigation costs from being passed on to customers, and replenish the state’s wildfire fund by $18 billion. The money, paid by shareholders and ratepayers over the next decade, is used to pay wildfire victims. 

The package Newsom signed leaves one imminent concern unaddressed: upcoming refinery closures. Negotiations late in the legislative session to keep two Bay Area refineries open have so far failed to produce any deals. 

Some Democrats simply didn’t want to give more to the oil industry, while others disagreed on how much support the state should provide, Assemblymember Lori Wilson, a Suisun City Democrat, told CalMatters last week. Wilson had been pushing for the state to support the Valero refinery in Benicia that is now set to close by the end of the year without a deal, costing the city its largest private employer. 

Cayla Mihalovich is a California Local News fellow.

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Newsom signs slate of climate, energy bills in California

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) on Friday signed a slate of bills regarding climate and clean energy in an effort to “lower electricity costs, stabilize the petroleum market and slash air pollution.” The measures signed into law include legislation to increase climate credits on utility bills, expand regional power markets out West, add $18 billion...

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) on Friday signed a slate of bills regarding climate and clean energy in an effort to “lower electricity costs, stabilize the petroleum market and slash air pollution.” The measures signed into law include legislation to increase climate credits on utility bills, expand regional power markets out West, add $18 billion to the California Wildfire Fund and allocate $1 billion annually to a high-speed rail project.  The cap-and-trade program, now to be known as “cap-and-invest,” was reauthorized through 2045, "making polluters pay for projects that support our most impacted communities, Newsom said in a statement. “We've got to manifest our ideals and our goals. And so this lays it out, but it lays it out without laying tracks over folks…the issue of affordability, as you heard, is top of mind,” Newsom said during a Friday signing event.  Amid the onset of refinery closures in the state, the governor approved a Republican-backed bill to support more offshore drilling in Kern County, an area rich with fossil fuel resources. Republican state Sen. Shannon Grove said the legislation will “stabilize fuel prices for all Californians” during a speech on the floor last week. The legislative package also earned applause from environmental advocates who have celebrated efforts by Newsom. “We applaud Governor Newsom and California legislators for leading the way in cutting pollution, lowering bills, and building more resilient communities. Now we must accelerate this kind of progress in California and across the nation to meet the full scale of the climate crisis,” Evergreen Action vice president for states Justin Balik said in a Friday statement. The California governor said Friday the state will push forward to lead the nation with “practical application business.” “We're getting it done here today,” Newsom said. “So finding a balanced approach, setting forth strategies to achieve audacious goals that simply no other large-scale jurisdiction in the world can lay claim to, and doing it in a way that reduces the burden on ratepayers and taxpayers.”

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Wildfire Smoke Will Likely Kill Thousands More Americans Each Year

A new analysis finds that 30,000 more Americans are expected to die from wildfire-smoke exposure annually by 2050

Wildfire Smoke Will Likely Kill Thousands More Americans Each Year A new analysis finds that 30,000 more Americans are expected to die from wildfire-smoke exposure annually by 2050 Sara Hashemi - Daily Correspondent September 19, 2025 1:13 p.m. The annual average concentration of PM 2.5 expected in 2050.  Stanford University As our planet continues to warm, the number of Americans who die each year from wildfire smoke could rise from 40,000 today to 71,000 in 2050, finds a recent study. Scientists usually focus on PM 2.5—particulate matter that measures 2.5 microns across and can penetrate the lungs and bloodstream—to track air quality. While there have been studies on the effects of PM 2.5, most of them haven’t focused on wildfire smoke exposure. This new work provides a sobering look at just how many lives will be impacted by wildfires in the coming decades. The analysis, published in the journal Nature on Thursday, combined two decades of death records with climate and wildfire data across North America. The researchers used a machine learning model to predict how changes in wildfire emissions in one place affected smoke concentrations in another. They found that when smoke exposure was higher, there were more deaths. “This paper is a wake-up call for people,” says Kai Chen, an environmental epidemiologist at the Yale School of Public Health who was not involved in the study, to Sachi Kitajima Mulkey and Harry Stevens at the New York Times. “It shows this is a nationwide problem, and it’s tied to climate change.” Quick fact: The state of wildfires Over the past 20 years, the frequency and intensity of extreme wildfires around the globe have more than doubled, according a study in the journal Nature Ecology and Evolution published in June 2024. Some states will be impacted more heavily than others. The largest projected increases in death are in California and New York, with 5,060 additional deaths and 1,810 additional deaths a year, respectively. Washington, Texas and Pennsylvania will also see significantly more deaths compared to other states. The study also measures the economic impacts of smoke-related deaths, and found that they translate to $608 billion in annual damages by 2050. That exceeds costs from all other climate-driven damages in the United States, combined. A separate study, also published in Nature this week, further highlights the devastating impact of wildfire smoke not just in the United States, but around the world. The researchers estimate that 1.4 million people will die from wildfire smoke around the world each year by the end of the century—six times more than the current death toll—and most of those deaths will occur in Africa. The authors of the first paper stress that these numbers depend on how we respond to climate change. The models don’t consider worsening climate scenarios, but they also don’t consider possible adaptations. Marshall Burke, an environmental economist at Stanford University and study co-author, tells the New York Times that encouraging the use of air filters and masks during smoke events could also lead to improvements. “The numbers are really striking, but those don’t need to be inevitable,” Minghao Qiu, an environmental scientist at Stony Brook University and the paper’s lead author, tells Matt Simon at Grist. “There are a lot of things we could do to reduce this number.” Burke tells Oliver Milman at the Guardian, “If we want to reduce impacts in the next 30 years, mitigation is important, but it’s actually not the key lever." He adds, “The two key levers are reducing extreme wildfire activity through other approaches, so fuels management, and second, making sure we are well protected when smoke events happen. Right now we are not very well protected.” Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday.

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Wildfire smoke will kill nearly 1.4m each year by end of century if emissions not curbed – study

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Smoke billowing from wildfires will cause a growing number of deaths around the world in the decades ahead as the planet continues to heat up, new research has found.Wildfire smoke is expected to kill as many as 1.4 million people globally each year by the end of the century if planet-heating emissions are not curbed, according to a study published on Thursday.Separate research, released on the same day, finds a similar spike in wildfire smoke deaths just in the US, with more than 70,000 people set to die in America this way by 2050 at the current rate of warming, up from the 40,000 who die this way each year at this time.Breathing in smoke from burning forests is thought to be about 10 times more toxic than inhaling other air pollution given off by the burning of fossil fuels, with scientists recently warning the impact of this pollution has been severely underestimated in terms of its impact upon our health.Wildfire smoke contains ash and soot that contain tiny particles, called PM2.5, which can, when inhaled, burrow deep in people’s lungs and cause an array of respiratory and heart problems.The reach of this threat is extensive, too – recent research estimated that 22,000 people in Europe were killed due to plumes of wildfire smoke coming from vast forest fires in Canada in 2023, along with many more fatalities in North America.Fire has long been a feature of landscapes and a variety of factors, such as the management of forests, can influence conflagrations. The area around the world affected by wildfires has actually decreased in the past two decades, mainly due to changing agricultural practices, but, crucially, the number of people exposed to fires has significantly grown in this time.The climate crisis is the driving force behind the trend of larger, fiercer fires, according to Minghao Qiu, an atmospheric researcher at Stony Brook University. “More warming and higher fuel aridity means that the vegetation gets drier, therefore higher wildfire risks,” he said.Qiu led the US-focused research, published in Nature, that found that just over 71,000 people are expected to die annually in the country by 2050 due to wildfire smoke on current warming trends.California, scene of many huge fires including current blazes that threaten the state’s storied sequoia trees, will bear the brunt of these deaths but the smoke will also take a major toll in states such as New York and Texas, the research found.If emissions aren’t cut, the US could suffer annual economic damages of $608bn by 2050 due to wildfire smoke, more than all other climate hazards combined, the authors estimated.“Wildfire smoke is by far the largest in terms of overall health damages and that’s a new finding,” said Marshall Burke, an environmental scientist at Stanford and study co-author. “The numbers are really striking.”Wildfires are an increasing global problem, too, with huge blazes seen in countries such as Canada, Spain and Portugal this year. Much of the harm from smoke is set to be inflicted upon Africa, however, according to another new study, also published in Nature, by an international team of scientists.The research estimates that worldwide 1.4 million people will die by the end of the century due to wildfire smoke, about six times more than the present death toll, but that this burden will fall unequally. While the US and Europe could suffer a doubling in wildfire smoke deaths, Africa is expected to be worst affected, with 11 times more fire-related deaths compared with current norms.Longterm wildfire smoke risk will be lessened if the world finally manages to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. However, the death toll for the coming decades will be influenced more by shorter-term adaptation, Burke said.“If we want to reduce impacts in the next 30 years, mitigation is important, but it’s actually not the key lever,” he said.“The two key levers are reducing extreme wildfire activity through other approaches, so fuels management, and second, making sure we are well protected when smoke events happen. Right now we are not very well protected.”

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Ministers yet to seek climate advice on Heathrow expansion

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Newsom taps climate ‘architect’ to lead California air board as Trump fights heat up

At the state’s top air regulator, Lauren Sanchez will replace Liane Randolph, taking the helm as California battles Trump, rising costs, and the future of its climate agenda.

In summary At the state’s top air regulator, Lauren Sanchez will replace Liane Randolph, taking the helm as California battles Trump, rising costs, and the future of its climate agenda. The California Air Resources Board is getting a new leader at a pivotal moment, as it battles the Trump administration in court and contends with growing scrutiny from Democrats and voters questioning the price of the state’s climate principles. Liane Randolph has chaired the board of the state’s top air and climate regulator since 2020. She oversaw a range of policies including landmark clean-car and truck rules, a fuel standard with implications for gas prices and the state’s signature carbon trading program, cap-and-trade. This week, Gov. Gavin Newsom nominated his senior climate advisor, Lauren Sanchez, to replace her. Randolph, in an interview, told CalMatters her departure was part of her “personal journey,” something she began considering earlier this year. “I’ve worked really hard over the last almost five years, and I’m ready for a break,” she said. “I am confident that the transition will go incredibly smoothly.” Observers say the handover highlights the air board’s key role at a time of political pushback and consumer resistance. “Pretty much all of the major areas in climate that [the air board] touches are going to be in really significant periods of challenge,” said Danny Cullenward, a climate expert and vice chair of an independent committee that analyzes the cap-and-trade program. “This is not an easy time to take over an agency. It’s a time when sound strategy — and not just autopilot — is going to be required.” California’s climate ambition meets Trump opposition Newsom’s 2020 order to phase out gas-car sales by 2035 was a watershed moment for California climate policy. His executive order was a headline-grabbing strike at the oil industry, meant to accelerate not only the state’s adoption of electric cars, but the nation’s. Newsom said Randolph would be the champion of that effort as his pick to lead the air board just a few months later, calling her “the kind of bold, innovative leader that will lead in our fight against climate change with equity and all California’s communities at heart.” But Randolph faced a larger challenge than her predecessors: a Trump administration bent on thwarting California’s authority. The White House immediately criticized Newsom’s order as an example of how “extreme the left has become,” evidence that liberal policymakers wanted to “dictate every aspect of every American’s life.” While Randolph’s air board made significant policy during the years of the Biden administration, Trump attacked those efforts once he returned to office. “Liane didn’t have the time or the circumstances to pivot toward a new, adjusted strategy,” said Daniel Sperling, a former member of the board, now the director of the Institute for Transportation Studies at UC Davis. “She inherited the trajectory that California was on, and that the governor was articulating, and then she got undermined by the Trump administration.” For the gasoline car ban, the air board held months of marathon hearings filled with car owners, environmentalists and industry lobbyists. In 2022, the board approved the measure that Newsom wanted. More rules soon followed, targeting diesel trucks, locomotives and other major polluters. Ethan Elkind, a climate law expert at UC Berkeley, said Randolph steered the board through a difficult time.  In disputes involving environmental justice groups, he said, “she really listened to people,” building consensus and lowering tensions.  “She’s always very diplomatic,” Elkind said. “She was mild-mannered, she wasn’t polemical, she didn’t use it as a perch to pontificate. She seemed very measured and steady and took her role as the public face, and the need for outreach, very seriously.” Policies moving the state toward zero emissions vehicles have struggled, as federal and state regulators have pulled industry in opposing directions.  The Biden administration signed off on California’s clean-car rules last year. But the state air board withdrew one of its most aggressive measures on diesel trucks, as well as rules on locomotives, harbor craft and other polluters, in anticipation of Trump’s return. “There’s not a full understanding of how aggressive the administration’s attacks on all of California’s efforts to achieve climate action have been,” Randolph said at a CalMatters event in San Francisco. She pointed to the Trump administration’s withdrawl of a rule aimed at cleaning up nitrogen oxide pollution from trucks. “That has nothing to do with electric vehicles,” Randolph said. “It was all about just attacking California’s authority, and letting the big companies who supported the administration continue to pollute communities.” Catherine Reheis-Boyd, a senior advisor to the Western States Petroleum Association, said that under Randolph’s tenure, California’s ambition got ahead of consumers and technology. Her pushback echoed the broader clash with the Trump administration, which has targeted electric cars as costly for consumers and impractical. “We have no problem with electric vehicles,” Reheis-Boyd said, at the San Francisco CalMatters event. But “we think there should be a free market.” Searing climate battles at home Last November, the air board revamped its Low Carbon Fuel Standard, a program that uses financial incentives to encourage cleaner fuels as the state phases out gasoline and diesel.  The fight exposed twin challenges arising from within the state: rising costs and lingering environmental harms not addressed by the climate policy. Consumer advocates raised alarms about gas prices, while environmentalists warned that boosting alternatives like biofuels made from cow manure or soybeans offered limited climate benefits. Phoebe Seaton, co-director of the Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability, said her group “strongly disagrees” with the expansion of the fuel standard program but credited Randolph’s leadership for showing up and listening to all parties.  “We are especially grateful for the time Chair Randolph dedicated to meeting in Pixley and Fresno with people impacted by dairies,” Seaton said. Liane Randolph, chair of the California Air Resources Board, speaks during an EVgo fast charging station launch event at El Mercado Plaza Shopping Center in Union City on Sept. 25, 2023. The event highlighted California achieving its goal of installing 10,000 direct current fast chargers for electric vehicles. Photo by Loren Elliott for CalMatters Central valley politicians criticized the program for making fuels less affordable. Assemblymember Jasmeet Bains, a Bakersfield Democrat looking to unseat a moderate Republican in Congress, called for Randolph’s resignation earlier this year. She argued that the air board failed to study the economic impacts of its new standard. Her office did not respond to a request from CalMatters for comment. Cullenward said the air board hasn’t always clearly said what its programs cost consumers. While Newsom and the legislature will extend cap-and-trade, the board still must decide how to reshape the program after pausing work on it during the reauthorization fight. “One of the toughest things about this process is that being really honest about what’s working — and what’s not working — and what the costs of the different options are, is going to be essential,” Cullenward said. “Historically, that’s not something staff have ever embraced.” Newsom praised Randolph for stepping in during a time of uncertainty and leading with “vision and resolve.” She will leave at the end of the month, before the end of her term, which lasts through 2026. Questions about costs, affordability and environmental concerns will continue to hang over the air board as it decides how to steer cap-and-trade and other programs in the years ahead. Randolph, in her remarks Wednesday, said California regulators must get creative in the face of federal attacks, while also addressing public concerns and communicating why the state’s policies matter. “All of the impacts of climate change make things fundamentally unaffordable,” she said. Newsom’s point person steps in Randolph’s replacement, Lauren Sanchez, has been the governor’s point person on climate from within the executive office. Translating Newsom’s vision into state policy at a key turning point while also leading a 16-member board and managing the agency’s vast, highly technical staff will present a new challenge. Sanchez built her climate credentials on the international stage and inside the governor’s office, where she helped steer billions in budget funding for climate programs and advised Newsom on this summer’s high-stakes energy and climate package. Climate advisor Lauren Sanchez, center, attends Gov. Gavin Newsom’s trip to China on Oct. 29, 2023. Photo via Office of the Governor of California “He turned to the aide he trusts most on climate,” said Dean Florez, the state Senate appointee to the air board. “Lauren’s been at his side drafting the playbook and steering the billions. This isn’t a change in course, it’s keeping faith with his own circle.” Before joining Newsom’s office in 2021, Sanchez served as a climate negotiator at the U.S. State Department and later advised John Kerry in the Biden administration. She also held senior roles at the California Environmental Protection Agency and the air board, coordinating climate policy across state agencies and shaping California’s international climate work. “Lauren has been my most trusted climate advisor and the chief architect of California’s bold climate agenda,” Newsom said. “She is a force in her own right: her expertise, tenacity, and vision will serve California well as the Board works to protect our communities and defends our climate progress against relentless attacks from Washington.” Sanchez played a central role in weaving climate priorities into the state budget in recent years, said Jamie Pew, climate policy advisor with NetxGen Policy. Cap-and-trade pays for a climate credit that consumers see on their utility bills; Pew said Sanchez advocated for expanding the credit during the recent legislative negotiations. “Lauren has been a champion for getting cap and invest done this year, which will ensure that funding for critical climate programs will continue to grow at a time when federal rollbacks threaten the transition,” Pew said. Next week, the state’s top air and climate regulators will vote on amendments narrowing a previously rescinded truck rule to public fleets. The board is also advancing an emergency regulation to keep its clean-car and truck standards enforceable as the board battles the federal government in court. Many of the air board’s recent accomplishments have run into roadblocks this year. As expected, Trump quickly moved to block California’s mandates aided by Congress, signing three measures in June against clean cars and two others targeting diesel trucks. Adrian Martinez, a lawyer with Earthjustice, said California’s air board faces “perilous times.” “Everyone breathing in California depends on it,” he said.

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In the near future, the climate crisis reaches an irreversible point. A nun and a priest meet to talk about the disappearance of insects.

Climate
Fiction
Student

Talking Trees

Yes, trees can talk. They communicate through their roots. Please listen to what they have to say in this short film.

Forests
Extinction
Climate

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