This story appeared on Calmatters
Sacramento and Palo Alto offered up a tale of two California energy policies Wednesday as legislators considered the best way to stick it to Big Oil and Gov. Gavin Newsom talked up Tesla’s expansion plans.
The two events reflected two contrasting — arguably, contradictory — policy imperatives that the state faces:
That was highlighted at the state Capitol, where lawmakers convened the first hearing of a special legislative session to consider the governor’s proposal to tax the profits of California oil companies.
The idea got an uneven reception.
Nearly all the senators on the Energy, Utilities and Communications committee expressed outrage at the gas price spike that state’s drivers endured last fall and welcomed the opportunity to gather more information about California’s oil and gas markets.
But many committee members, including Democrats, seemed skeptical that imposing a financial penalty on oil refiner profits would have the desired effect.
Experts invited to give testimony were, on the whole, no more encouraging. They argued that focusing on the gas retail sector rather than on refineries could be the better course of action and that the Legislature should be clear about what problem it is trying to solve: price spikes, persistently higher prices or “excess” profits.
Even before the hearing began, some environmental advocates began grumbling that Newsom’s proposal was unlikely to get a fair hearing. More than 100 advocacy groups sent a letter supporting what they call a “price gouging penalty.”
Some of the skepticism from committee members came from the fact that, as Newsom noted last week, the proposal is novel. Though governments across Europe have imposed “windfall taxes” on oil drillers, this levy is directed specifically at refiners.
But California Energy Commissioner Siva Gunda, also speaking on behalf of the administration, argued that no matter the ultimate shape of the proposal (the specific numbers are still missing from a bill introduced Dec. 5), legislators would be wise to dedicate more resources to understanding the gasoline market, not despite California’s planned transition away from gas-powered cars, but because of it.
Earlier Wednesday, Newsom appeared with Musk — the proud owner of Tesla and the perhaps regretful owner of Twitter — to announce that the billionaire’s electric car company will be opening up a new engineering headquarters in Silicon Valley. In tech circles, the investment represents a symbolic changing of the guard: the new site used to be occupied by the once-dominant computer maker Hewlett-Packard.
For Tesla, the announcement was a two-part reconciliation:
All apparently water under the bridge now. In fact, Newsom, who is constantly fending off claims from the right that the state’s Democratic policies are anathema to industry, Tesla’s return was cause for some gleeful crowing.
Dyslexia screening: California is one of 10 states that does not require public schools to screen students for dyslexia. If you’re a teacher with views on this issue and are willing to talk to a CalMatters reporter, send an email to joe@calmatters.org.
California farmers and Southern California water suppliers have been complaining about it for years: The state, they say, allows too much fresh water to flow out to the Pacific Ocean, prioritizing the needs of fish over humans.
Those complaints have grown louder in recent weeks. Though torrential rains inundated rivers and creeks across the state last month, critics say regulators were slow to approve the requests of water districts to store the liquid surplus — not that it would have made up for years of drought and over-pumping.
Now the state Water Resources Control Board is changing the rules, explains CalMatters water reporter Alastair Bland.
Responding to an executive order by Newsom, the water regulators agreed late Tuesday to allow farmers and households across Central Valley and southern California to suck significantly more Northern California water, slashing by more than 50% the amount left to flow through the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.
Regulators insist the new diversions won’t harm endangered fish species such as the Chinook salmon and the Delta smelt. But conservation advocates aren’t buying it.
Another factor that makes it more difficult to manage the state’s water: The snowpack the Sierra accumulated last month has already seen “an extremely steep drop-off” thanks to the return of dry, warmer weather.
That should at least put a silver lining on the unusual snow storms barreling toward the state that have prompted only the second blizzard warning for Los Angeles on record.
California’s water crisis, explained: Despite last month’s deluge, the state is gripped by a deep drought. CalMatters has a detailed look at how California might increase its water supply. And now, you can read it in Spanish.
California used to have a major problem: Too many people in prison, not enough space to properly house them.
But one court mandate and a decade of sentencing reforms and early releases later, the state may have the opposite problem, writes CalMatters’ justice reporter Nigel Duara.
It’s possible California has too many prisons.
The inmate population, which peaked at 165,000 in 2006, now sits at 95,000. Gov. Newsom has already closed two and is planning to shutter at least two more. But a new report by the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office suggests that the state could wind down five additional prisons before the end of the decade.
That analysis has been celebrated by anti-prison advocates and tentatively welcomed by some Democrats in the Legislature. But it’s likely to be a nonstarter with Republicans and some moderate Democrats driven by rising public concerns about violent crime.
Expect prisons, crime and punishment to be a major talking point from the governor’s office starting sometime in late March. That’s reportedly when an episode of Apple TV’s “The Problem with Jon Stewart” is set to air, including an interview with Newsom taped at San Quentin State Prison on Wednesday.
CalMatters columnist Dan Walters: The political debate over California’s highest-in-the-nation homelessness has boiled down to money with Gov. Gavin Newsom and local officials at odds.
CalMatters columnist Jim Newton: The proliferation of warehouses across the Inland Empire is affecting everyone, yet residents are struggling to be heard by their elected representatives.
Gimme Shelter: Homeless veterans in Los Angeles offer statewide insight
California bill would overhaul system for adults with developmental disabilities // Sacramento Bee
California’s freed slaves’ town looks to build a better future // Los Angeles Times
Rural schools face a financial cliff. Will partisan bickering cut off a lifeline? // Los Angeles TImes
Orange Unified accused of ‘full ambush’ to fire superintendent // EdSource
Why San Francisco teens are learning more in sex ed than kids elsewhere // San Francisco Chronicle
In L.A., unhoused people say sweeps leave them vulnerable to hypothermia // Capital & Main
Huntington Beach wants to take on California over duplexes, ADUs // LAist
The San Diego House Democrat trying to move his party on permitting reform // Politico
CA Supreme Court upholds $302M penalty against Johnson & Johnson // San Francisco Chronicle
Temecula leaders turning right as critics try to slam the brakes // The Press-Enterprise
Lodi councilman released from jail following suspected voter fraud // Stocktonia
Saddleback Church ousted by Southern Baptist Convention // OC Register
Oakland school board candidate resigns in fight over contested seat // East Bay Times
A teacher touched a girl inappropriately. He’s back in a classroom // Voice of San Diego
Why Kevin Kiley is fighting against Julie Su as U.S. labor secretary // Sacramento Bee
Building tiny homes a gigantic task in broken San Francisco // San Francisco Standard
Opinion: A Republican criminal justice idea California Democrats should support / San Francisco Chronicle
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