SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday signed a sweeping spending package aimed at increasing California’s reliance on blank electricity and reducing carbon emissions, measures he says identify the state as a global weather leader.
The new legislation comes with proposals for exposure to oil and fuel pollutants in communities of color, expanding blank force jobs and increasing the state’s timeline to get the most out of its electric power from renewable energy sources. Newsom signed them after a record-breaking heat wave forced California to rely more on herbal fuel for power generation.
“We can just communicate about how the world deserves to be and protest,” Newsom said as he stood under a network of solar panels. “Or we can make demonstrable progress. “
State Sen. Lena Gonzalez, a Democrat, drafted a bill for vulnerable communities from pollutants from oil and fuel production sites. It prohibits the drilling of new oil and fuel wells with 3,200 feet (975 meters) of homes, schools and other community sites and calls for wells in those spaces to adopt stricter protective measures. Oil extraction in neighborhoods is vital around Los Angeles and the oil-rich parts of the Central Valley.
“The explanation for why we do this, first and foremost, is that some of us are parents,” said Gonzalez, who represents the southern component of Los Angeles County.
Another bill signed through Newsom calls for California to achieve carbon neutrality by 2045, removing as much carbon from the environment as it emits.
The state’s accelerated carbon relief goals are a “big win for California,” Kassie Siegel of the Center for Biodiversity’s Action Fund said in a statement.
The oil industry has widely criticized Newsom’s weather package, saying it would damage an industry that still generates many jobs in the state. California is the seventh largest oil-producing state.
Some environmental equipment has also been critical, though for other reasons. Food and Water Watch California, a nonprofit focused on solving climate and water issues, has opposed a bill in the package that creates a permit formula for carbon capture projects. These efforts rely on generation to remove carbon from the environment and buy it underground.
Critics of the generation say it is dangerous, unproven and for oil corporations to continue broadcasting.
“Carbon sequestration is a smokescreen for fossil fuel industry players at the expense of our climate and our communities,” Food and Water Watch California Director Chirag G. Bhakta said in a statement.
Newsom, a Democrat, also took the opportunity to hit Republican political leaders in Texas. He compared California’s energy production to that of Texas, the top producer, where a winter typhoon in February 2021 left millions without power.
“And they tell us that we keep our lamps on?” said Newsom of Texas.
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Sophie Austin is a member of the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a national nonprofit service program that is installed in local newsrooms to report on unreported topics. Follow her on Twitter at https://twitter. com/sophieadanna.
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