Guest essay by Eric Worrall
Are cracks appearing in California’s climate zealotry? LA Times laments that “so-called moderate democrats” in the legislature and “organized labor” do not share Governor Newsom’s radical climate ambition.
California needs to do more than just throw money at climate change. It must act
BY THE TIMES EDITORIAL BOARDJAN. 16, 2022 5 AM PT
For the second year in a row, California has been blessed with a massive budget surplus, and Gov. Gavin Newsom is again seeking to spend billions of those dollars responding to climate change.
…
Newsom is right to take advantage of this windfall to do more to adapt to the warming climate and push the state toward a carbon-free future, and the Legislature should support his proposal. But allocating money is not enough. We need action from state lawmakers, who have yet to mandate emissions reductions that are fast, steep or broad enough to get California on track to avoid truly catastrophic warming.
…
California is falling behind other states and countries with its outdated climate targets and mandates, and hasn’t passed significant climate legislation in years. Among the biggest obstacles are the so-called moderate Democrats in the Legislature who have acted at the behest of oil and gas interests and organized labor to block climate action.
Newsom, to his credit, has begun pushing ahead with executive orders and administrative actions to restrict fossil fuels. But he has to do more to persuade lawmakers to break through their unwillingness to act. He should start by clearly articulating a plan and vision not just for spending on climate change, but for legislation that will truly match the scale of the problem and reestablish California as a climate leader. He must follow up these spending priorities with a legislative agenda that puts some muscle behind the money.
Read more: https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2022-01-16/climate-change-funding
By any reasonable measure California’s climate push is a total failure. California has to import around 25% of their electricity from elsewhere because their useless solar and wind infrastructure cannot cover their needs.
Yet instead of pausing to address this shortfall, people like Governor Newsom and his cheerleaders in the LA Times main focus is pushing forward with showy climate initiatives like electrifying home heating and more EVs, initiatives which will stress California’s woefully underpowered grid even further.
The reluctance of “moderate democrats” and organized labor to wholeheartedly embrace Newsom’s climate radicalism in my opinion are signs ordinary people are getting fed up.
As an outsider who only visited California once (other than transit), I have no idea what it is like to live there – but do people in California today really feel like winners?
20, 30 years ago, California was the place to be. But right now, today, looking in from the outside, when I look at California, all I see are problems.
What outsiders like me see is a sky high cost of living, self inflicted crazy energy and gasoline prices, high taxes, supply chain chaos, Covid lockdown hypocrites, blackouts, regulators who cannot stop downed power lines from starting forest fires, rampant homelessness and crime, and a state governor so obsessed with climate change he keeps making decisions which don’t make sense, while ignoring all the real problems.
I’m sure there is more to life in California than all the problems. But its not a good look folks.
Oh, they want more than money. What’s next?
No. They have a massive budget surplus for the second year in the row. The question is actually how to spend the money they have.
I wonder, is any of that money federal taxpayer money?
Take away the federal subsidies and things may well look different.
I saw they expect a 45+ billion surplus. I did see that Newsom wants to use it to provide universal health care to illegal immigrants.
I would think improving the quality of life for local residents would be a higher priority.
The illegal aliens are more likely to vote Democrat.
As one might expect, the total debt of the state of California is the highest among all states, just over a half trillion dollars.
You still think Benghazi was started by an internet video
They already have money targeted for COVID relief, that they plan to redirect
This forecast is a warning of severe winter weather for the eastern US and Europe.
Off-topic.
Seriously, Jeff? Isn’t all this nonsense over Global Warming? Per the CAGWers, snow was a thing of the past because no cold weather. Remember?
Yes seriously. This post is about a specific topic. Not global warming in general. You don’t get that?
“This forecast is a warning of severe winter weather for the eastern US and Europe.”
That’s what Janice Dean, the Weather Machine, just said, too. More cold and snow for the U.S. northeast. The jet stream is allowing cold air to come down into the eastern U.S., while blocking the cold air from the rest of the U.S.
https://earth.nullschool.net/#current/wind/isobaric/500hPa/orthographic=-109.34,30.26,264
California went off the rails after the Gray Davis recall, after which the radical Democrats stopped trying to reach any sort of compromises. Schwartzennegger was rapidly politically gelded, as were any Democrat moderates.
I have seen reporting that Los Angles county has truly remarkable voter registration rates, as do other Democratic party strongholds.
Up to 140%?
But do you mean real live voters?
We doan need no steenking live voters!
Real voters are problematic they don’t vote the way you need much better to have dead ones.
The dead ones and the make-believe ones are more easily satisfied. And they don’t switch sides when your lies become apparent.
Metaverse virtual voters’ lives matter
Don’t forget that Gov. Grusom is a cousin of Pelosi’s son Paul. Paul makes Hunter look like a saint, but has never been investigated either…
“I have seen reporting that Los Angles county has truly remarkable voter registration rates”
Well, yes, there are some large cemeteries in that area. 😉
LAT is as bad as NYT. The notion that Cali is lagging on its ‘climate ambitions’ is just absurd. a figment of a feverishly biased imagination.
As for the ambitions: They just banned small gas engine garden equipment. They imposed new diesel engine requirements directly leading to their port backups. They forbade Eagle Crest pumped storage in favor of non-existant grid battery storage.
As for the results, not good. Sky high electricity prices. Businesses and people leaving in record numbers.
The exodus from California is real. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ez90rXhMWjE
Now that Trump is out it’s much more fun to watch Bill Maher as every week he has another rant about the epic disfunction that cali is.
But being the smartest leftist in the country is a pretty low bar as he still automatically supports Noisome and the Dems no matter how bad it gets.
He simple can’t help himself, but to his credit he clearly states backing of capitalism and hates “woke”, but in the end it’s his team and he’s stuck with it.
I especially love every show where he goes on about climate change in harsh dark tones then at the end cheerfully lists all the upcoming live shows he will be doing all over the country in coming weeks, seemingly unaware of the hypocrisy.
Like I said, he is the smartest leftist, but it’s a really low bar.
If they actually have a surplus in tax revenues wouldn’t the smart move be to provide some tax relief and slow the the exodus to lower tax states.
Even assuming the claim of a budget surplus is correct, Newsome already spent it, and more, when he gave free healthcare to illegal aliens.
It’s a long downhill slide, eventually they will pay a heavy price. Hope it doesn’t kill people.
Yes, if I were a person in another country that wanted to move to the United States, I would be moving to California. That’s where the benefits are for illegal aliens.
We should finish the southern border wall but leave the section in California open to expedite the transfer of illegal aliens into California.
You did note that this is in California, right? Our glorious state legislature is looking to raise taxes, not lower them (on the rich of course). That 45Bn surplus won’t even scratch the surface of providing universal health care.
They are raising taxes on everybody. They just claim that all the new free stuff they are going to provide will compensate the poor for the new taxes.
The small engine ban also hits backup and portable generators as I understand it. So they’ll be suffering blackouts and be unable to generate emergency power (except larger generators like commercial buildings).
There will be a demand for silent generators! Maybe a wankel engine would be a start.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=josJhz8VS8A
They need to spend the infrastructure stimulus handouts on roads near the border to get out of that failed state. Do it even if they have to use the idiot light rail money to do it.
“We need action from state lawmakers, who have yet to mandate emissions reductions that are fast, steep or broad enough to get California on track to avoid truly catastrophic warming.”.
It might be a good idea for governor Newsom to list the catastrophes that warming will bring. 8 inches of sea level rise in 100 years time? Extreme weather events that are currently increasing at no more than 0% per annum? Threats to food production which are so severe that each year sees a new record high in global food production?
With a detailed list of what his expenditure is for, the people would be better able to see how much itvis actually worth spending.
Apparently Newsom is unaware that global warming is global and that local actions to eliminate CO2 emissions would have no theoretical effect on local climate even if the theory was correct. Unless he can gain control of China’s and India’s energy policy, his actions in Cali are pointless and destructive. But the AGW hysteria crowd are not known for their grasp on simple logic.
From 1967 to 1975 California elected as governor this man who correctly predicted the future.
Nailed it!
Maybe they should shut down all fossil fuels now. Let them try living without cars, with severly reduced electricity and no natural gas for heating or cooking. Maybe a little dose of reality will show them how much they need fossil fuels. Maybe they will wake up… then again maybe not.
This is one of the most effective strategies I can think of. Give those who continually bawl about climate change and warming Armageddon exactly what they preach – no fossil fuels, no plastics, no technology that depends on fossil fuels, no easy access to travel, heat, cooling, light. Let them tear up their yards to grow meager crops they have no clue how to grow and let them bask in the electrons that come to them irregularly and often when unneeded from wind and solar. Let them built that wind and solar infrastructure without fossil fuels – i.e. without steel, concrete and plastics. If they believe the dogma let them live the life for as short as it may be.
“and reestablish California as a climate leader.”
I think that’s Newsom’s only vision. He doesn’t care about the consequences of his policies, he wants power and prestige.
The the Newsome smile is not reflected in his eyes, like The Joker.
I think he’s in competition with Trudeau, have to keep up with the Jones
After all, Trudeau at Cop26 promised to accelerate the destruction of canada
These people play for keeps
Being a leader isn’t just about leading (a rare skill in current politics and administration). It is also having a worthwhile distinction to go to. A great leader who points his/her nose toward social suicide is a very dangerous person.
“Destination” not “distinction”.
What if it’s a distinct destination?
I wonder if Noisome’s hair products are petroleum-based.
California has an eye-watering surplus in the time of covid. About a third of it comes from federal covid grants. But that still leaves a bundle.
Surprisingly, California’s total tax burden, sales, income, and property taxes, is about tenth in the country. link
So, why is the state government rolling in money?
Silicon valley is doing alright, probably thanks to Covid lockdowns / online ordering.
Lockdowns don’t work.
Lockdowns might not stop the virus, but forcing people to stay at home and giving them free government money increases their Ebay or Amazon shopping time.
Here’s what does work.
Nary a sign of a lockdown.
link
As far as I can tell President Trump had the right idea of closing the borders. Anyway, the Democrats are incapable of doing the right thing because it usually conflicts with their “absolutely perfect, can’t possibly fail” model of how the world works.
I was visiting Taiwan during a SARS outbreak. They are not a country which messes about. Thermal imaging cameras everywhere, big multi-lingual posters, doctor in the hotel lobby every day to check everyone’s temperature.
The most shocking part of that experience was the return flight. Granted it was 24th December, but I was flying out of a hot zone;
You don’t need a lockdown if there are no cases of COVID in the community. Which is why after a short lockdown places like NZ and Tawain were able to go back to normal.
When implemented properly lockdowns work. Which is basically just common sense — if you stop people from going outside then they are not going to spread or catch an infectious disease.
In the US, those places with lockdowns had more COVID than did the places with no lockdowns.
Covid 19 isn’t dangerous enough on an individual level to trigger the level of cooperation required to make lockdowns work.
Consider this description of how 1881 Sydney locked down a smallpox outbreak – and won.
https://dictionaryofsydney.org/entry/smallpox_epidemic_1881
The Boston Smallpox outbreak of 1901-03 also triggered a frantic response.
https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/nejm200102013440511
If Covid had a 30% mortality rate like Smallpox, or 50-100% like Ebola, or that imaginary disease out of 12 Monkeys, there would be no argument about extreme measures. But a 0.5% mortality rate just isn’t enough to trigger that kind of frantic effort – 0.5% is not much different to a bad flu epidemic.
“If Covid had a 30% mortality rate like Smallpox, or 50-100% like Ebola, or that imaginary disease out of 12 Monkeys, there would be no argument about extreme measures.”
This is true. People would be voluntarily locking themselves down for their own safety if the Wuhan virus were as deadly as Ebola.
The Sars-Cov-1 virus of 2003, was 10 percent fatal. Luckily, it was not very infectious, and eventually disappeared. About 8,000 people were infected and about 800 of them died from the disease. Sars-Cov-2 (Wuhan) had the potential to be as lethal as Sars-Cov-1. Happily, it was not, and it appears to be getting less lethal as it changes.
Where have they worked? Precisely please.
And why was pre-covid instruction from the WHO explicitly not to lock down in the event of a pandemic, if they work?
The west largely followed the example of a totalitarian state and didi what communist China did.
Since when has doing what communists do been good policy?
“If you stop people from going outside then they are not going to spread or catch an infectious disease.”
Utter & complete nonsense. People rarely got COVID when outside, as it is spread via aerosol. And vitamin D from sunshine is important in fighting it, too. The most dangerous place to be was indoors.
This was what I was wondering. How much of their social spending is funded on the Federal level? After all, along with New York they pretty much decide most federal elections. Or have. California was the difference between Biden and Trump in terms of the popular vote, and they almost gave us Hillary. No way will the Democrats stiff them.
Didn’t Resident Biden have a trillion or two earmarked for self destructing democrat states that needed to ‘build back better, after a ‘summer (er…year or two) of love’ by those entertaining Antifa rascals?
Big tech capital gains taxes have been fueling tax collections there for 20 years. They never mention the hundreds of billions in unfunded pension liabilities when touting the yearly surpluses though.
California has become the ‘no’ state. No parking 2 am to 4 am. An effort to control that part of the population that can no longer afford housing.
Lived on and off in California from about 1960 to 1993. California is a beautiful place with too much politics. So of all the places I lived, it is a place I avoid south of a
the state capital.
I live full time in an RV since retiring. I am a Washington State resident where I own an RV lot and house in Nevada. Did drive the motor home back to California a few times after retiring.
I have a lot of great memories of camping and boating in California but that was 40 years ago.
California is now one big freeway. A culture based on wasting energy. The idea that banning the ICE replaced with BEV powered with solar panels is just pixie dust.
Pull off the freeway and what will you see in every driveway of a snow free subdivision house?
Jacked up 4wd pickups.
Where has the “windfall” surplus come from? I don’t know another jurisdiction in the world that can brag that these days of massive government spending, with a couple of lost years economically. Maybe this Newsome is a wunderkind, a treasure to Californians whose not appreciated enough! Or are the lies just getting more brazen?
Silicon Valley, and federal relief funds.
PPP if you owned a business.
Is this where this article/story falls apart – is this the ‘little lie’ that the reader accepts, hoping to fix it later..
Quote:”the so-called moderate Democrats in the Legislature who have acted at the behest of oil and gas interests and organized labor to block climate action.
Maybe no they are NOT responding to the behest of oil & gas interests but are responding to the ‘little people‘ who voted them into whatever position of power they’re in.
In the UK they’d be called ‘constituents’ and, crazy as it is in the modern times, is how democracies are *supposed* to work.
The counter argument is those same voters elected Newsom, and he beat the recall by a large margin. Yet as you say, the “moderate” legislators elected by those same voters seem to be impeding Newsom’s radicalism. My guess is voters are unsettled by issues like the high cost of living and crime, but they are not yet ready to jump ship.
One of the Democrats who hopes to run against DeSantis of Florida says that DeSantis is another Hitler. Now why is DeSantis just like Hitler? Because DeSantis is not listening to the will of the people. Now I’m no history major, unlike the Democrat in question, but I’m sure that Hitler did a lot of bad things beyond “not listening to the people”.
Beyond that, deSantis is quite popular in Florida, so I’d be more than a little surprised if he actually wasn’t “listening to the people”.
I suspect that DeSantis’ crime is that he’s not listening to the far left wing Democrats, and that of course is an unforgivable crime.
Of course, Democrats have always claimed that they are the only party that cares for the people. Even when the people are rejecting what the Democrats propose, overwhelmingly.
It’s Standard Operating Procedure for radical Democrats to accuse their Republican opponents of being the equivalent of Adolf Hitler.
Demonization 101
Without demonization of their political opponents, the Democrats wouldn’t have an argument for electing Democrats.
That and racist, sexist, homophobe, islamaphobe, etc.
A Michigan Democrat suggests that white supremacism is responsible for the Texas synagogue hostage situation.
https://www.foxnews.com/media/michigan-democrat-white-supremacy-attack-texas-synagogue
“I’m sure there is more to life in California than all the problems.” Weather, ocean, mountains, and desert about sums it up. If you can afford to live here and put up with the Marxists and constantly bleeding liberals you’re good to go. Fortunately people pretty much stay to themselves so it’s possible to enjoy the environs without being hassled. It seems that many cannot though and emigration is rampant.
“Weather, ocean, mountains, and desert about sums it up. ……so it’s possible to enjoy the environs without being hassled.”
It is more than possible if you stick to federal lands. There are many free and low cost places to camp. I stayed in four different places in northern California and avoid their state parks.
I did stay at state parks in Oregon, Washington, and Idaho without a hint of hassles.
Policies for state public lands vary by state. In my travels I have found Texas to be the most welcoming. It is like the goverment is for the people and want people to enjoy the environment and provide many free services.
California is the least welcoming.
People waking up?
Does California have hope?
Man, does this article make me feel old. I’m sp old, I remember when newspapers were for organized labor and Blue Dog Democrats and even some Republicans who were for the common man. That’s back when journalists came from the working class and that class was not foreign to them, unlike now.
Speaking truth to power is anathema to journalists today.
“As far as I’m concerned, it’s a damned shame that a field as potentially dynamic and vital as journalism should be overrun with dullards, bums, and hacks, hag-ridden with myopia, apathy, and complacence, and generally stuck in a bog of stagnant mediocrity.
“Hunter S. Thompson
Republicans have always been for the common man. Opposing socialist programs that don’t work is not evidence that you are against the common man. In fact it is evidence of the opposite.
They may be worse than that!
Is Newsom still trying to get his billions of dollars “Train to Nowhere” to go somewhere, or did he give up?
They renamed it the Speedy Green Light Rail to Nowhere via Antarctica in honor of Jerry Brown.
” modrate democrats ”
Kind of “non-practicing catholics”; meaning, they are not catholics at all.
Either they are democrats or they are not. (or have they already wokely redefined “democrat” as only those who belong to or vote eith the Donkey Party, NOT those whose ideas, ideals and practice are democratic in the common non-woke sense?)
California’s greenhouse gas emissions are 40 million metric tons annually. The entire world’s are about 40 billion metric tons. So California represent’s about 1% of global emissions. Even if that were cut to zero tomorrow, it wouldn’t make a difference. The Covid lockdowns reduced emissions by 7% in 2021 and even that did not make a difference.
0.1%, not 1%.
Forcefully confiscate more money from citizens then Government needs and call it a blessing.
California has been blessed with a massive budget surplus
do people in California today really feel like winners?
You would be surprised how easy it is for those living in leisure in CA to ignore the problems the state has.
Those who watch CA politics closely should be watching for signs of lobbyist special interests seeping into the climate stories to benefit the rooftop solar lobby as one example. They are pushing for high-cost variants of solar at all costs to you, governments, and utilities.
The unions are going to feast on the stimulus funds for bonuses instead of doing anything useful with it, green or not.
Nope, we’re losers. We pay about the highest prices for energy (gasoline, natural gas, electricity) in the Continental US, we have the constant threat of rolling blackouts, and our taxes are ever increasing.
I’m leaving this year, moving one State over – Nevada. Will save tens of thousands in State income tax alone, my power bill will dramatically fall, and I’ll have a lot more personal freedom, too.
Too bad, because CA (especially this Ventura area) has nearly-perfect climate, beautiful beaches and mountains, and great produce. But paying thousands a month more for the “privilege” of living here, is just too much. So time to move, and take my 3 businesses (and 25 employees) with me.
From what I’ve been reading, you are far from the only business owner that is coming to the same conclusion. Even if that alleged budget surplus was real, it won’t last.
There’s a bill before the CA legislature to just about double taxes.
https://www.foxbusiness.com/economy/california-proposal-double-taxes
One simple question: would you buy a used car from the salesman pictured above at the very top?
I might, if I wasn’t using my own money.
And when San Diablo is taken offline in 2024/25 there will no longer be nuclear in CA.
“If you cannot understand why someone did something, look at the consequences—and infer the motivation.” ― Carl Jung
Newsom’s plans are ridiculous and he should work on the homelessness and other items before involving himself in things he doesn’t fully understand. He never thinks of the long term and what happens after he implements his stupid shit ideas.