Latest news with #CARB
Politico
18-07-2025
- Automotive
- Politico
How ‘$300 million just went poof'
With help from Alex Nieves, Seb Starcevic, Josh Siegel and Zack Colman LCFS STRIKES AGAIN: Gov. Gavin Newsom has been fighting for more than a year with Republicans and members of his own party about whether the low-carbon fuel standard amendments will raise gas prices for Californians. Turns out, they already have. But no one noticed. According to two industry sources granted anonymity to discuss proprietary market data, refiners started incorporating the new rules into their prices in January. As a result, California's gas prices have been roughly 5-8 cents per gallon higher at the pump since then, despite the underlying regulations not taking effect until this month. And drivers are out roughly $300 million that they shouldn't have been charged, according to their calculations. The episode illustrates the degree to which rhetoric and reality are almost entirely divorced in California's interminable gas-price wars — and the difficulty of puncturing the curtain that separates the two. At the same time that Senate Minority Leader Brian Jones launched his petition to repeal the '65-cent gas price hike,' GOP gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton was holding a press conference at a gas station in San Jose to call for rolling the LCFS back and replacing the California Air Resources Board, and Senate Democrats were introducing a bill to freeze LCFS credit prices, the thing they were trying to prevent had already happened. 'It was priced in on Jan. 1, and no one really knew about it,' said Will Faulkner, a carbon market analyst. How did this happen? It goes back to when the California Air Resources Board approved the amendments in November and then submitted them to the Office of Administrative Law a month later — too late for them to be approved to take effect Jan. 1 as intended. Then, OAL rejected them, pushing the timeline back further. But OPIS, the third-party energy price reporting service that converts carbon prices into cents-per-gallon prices for fuel trading purposes, started factoring in the amendments in January, on the assumption they would be retroactive once OAL approved them. CARB announced in May that wouldn't happen, so OPIS reverted back to the pre-amendment rules until the amendments kicked in July 1. CARB confirmed the snafu Wednesday, the same day it sent a memo to board members detailing the findings — and said it shows the program is ultimately working as intended, price-wise. 'It does sort of validate the points that we were making over time,' said CARB Chair Liane Randolph. 'The pricing has played out in pretty much the way we anticipated.' But given all the scrutiny this program has received — and how many estimates there've been of its impact on gas prices — it's fairly stunning that no one pointed out that it was already priced in at the pump starting in January. That's not even accounting for the fact that since it wasn't in effect, refiners kept the extra money that they would have spent on buying credits. At an average of 7 cents per gallon over 4.3 billion gallons of gas sold, they collected roughly $300 million before the rules actually kicked in. And that estimate doesn't include diesel, just gasoline. 'No one's paying attention,' Faulkner said. 'The No. 1 thing in Sacramento is affordability, and $300 million just went poof.' Read the rest of Debra's column here. Did someone forward you this newsletter? Sign up here! HIGH-SPEED CLAWBACK: The Trump administration has officially nixed $4 billion in federal grants earmarked for California's high-speed rail project. President Donald Trump announced the news in a post on Truth Social, writing that not a 'SINGLE penny' in federal dollars will go towards 'this Newscum SCAM ever again.' The announcement Wednesday night came after the U.S. Transportation Department issued a scathing report last month slamming the ambitious development for 'missed deadlines, budget shortfalls, and overrepresentation of projected ridership,' POLITICO's Seb Starcevic reports. Newsom immediately hit back, promising to fight the decision and billed the move as a 'gift to China,' which has made rapid advancements in clean transportation. High-Speed Rail Authority CEO Ian Choudri has defended the project, estimated to cost nearly four times its original $33 billion price tag, writing in a letter earlier this month that the outcome of DOT's investigation was predetermined, and that the administration appeared to ignore thousands of pages of documentation provided by the project. Attorney General Rob Bonta filed suit Thursday. Trump attempted to revoke $1 billion in federal funds for the project during his first term, but lost in court. — AN GUMMING UP THE WORKS: The Trump administration is making things more complicated for clean energy projects on federal land. Solar and wind projects must now get Interior Secretary Doug Burgum's personal sign-off to receive permits, according to an internal memo obtained by POLITICO. That level of heightened scrutiny could potentially slow approvals and construction across vast swaths of some of the most sun- and wind-rich portions of the country, POLITICO's Josh Siegel and Zack Colman report. The move comes as the administration attempts to go beyond the Republican 'megabill' to clamp down on solar and wind subsidies. Hard-line House conservatives said earlier this month that they'd received assurances from Trump that he would weaken renewable energy tax credits, despite Senate Republicans' attempts to preserve them. The megabill requires energy projects to start construction by July 4, 2026, or begin service by the end of 2027 to qualify for federal subsidies. — AN CHARGING FOR WHOM?: Low-income and people of color nationwide are far less likely to have access to public electric vehicle charging stations, a new study from researchers at UCLA and University of Southern California finds. The research, which analyzed more than 470,000 user reviews for charging stations alongside charger location data from the U.S. Department of Energy, found that disadvantaged communities had 64 percent fewer public charging stations per capita within a 3-mile radius than more affluent areas. Renters in multifamily housing had access to 73 percent fewer chargers per capita relative to those in wealthier neighborhoods. These groups of people are also more likely to encounter faulty and broken charging equipment. 'EV chargers aren't just missing in disadvantaged communities — they're also more likely to be broken,' said Yifang Zhu, a UCLA environmental health professor and a study author. 'That's a double barrier for people who can't charge at home.' That's a problem in California, where state officials are trying to increase EV adoption among a wider group of drivers, as market growth has stagnated over the last year. EVs accounted for 23.6 percent of all new car sales between January and March, according to data from the Alliance for Automotive Innovation. That represents a more than 1 percent drop compared to the same period last year. — AN — Los Angeles Times' Sammy Roth writes in his latest column that California should embrace a regional energy market, or risk closing itself off to the rest of the world. — The Steve Miller Band canceled its U.S. tour, saying it's concerned about extreme weather risks for fans and crew. — New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy is exempting a $1 billion Netflix studio from new coastal-flooding zoning rules.
Politico
17-07-2025
- Automotive
- Politico
How Newsom Hiked Fuel Prices — and Got Away With It
Gov. Gavin Newsom has been fighting for more than a year with Republicans and members of his own party about whether his fuel standards will raise gas prices for Californians. Turns out, they already have. But no one noticed. The rules that went into effect July 1 requiring companies to lower the carbon content of their transportation fuels marked an occasion to renew hostilities. President Donald Trump contrasted California's prices with the rest of the country's. ('All they do is they keep adding taxes. Terrible governor, doesn't know what he's doing.') A state Republican lawmaker launched a petition to 'repeal Gov. Newsom's 65-cent gas price hike,' and a gubernatorial candidate held a press conference at a gas station to propose repealing the rules. Even Democrats couldn't resist introducing a bill to freeze prices under the program, which sets a steadily tightening emissions limit and lets producers buy and sell credits to meet it. After the augured price hike failed to materialize, Newsom took a victory lap. 'Did gas prices go up by 65 cents at the pump?' his office asked in a press release July 2. 'No.' But according to two industry sources granted anonymity to discuss proprietary market data, refiners started incorporating the new rules into their prices in January. As a result, California's gas prices have been roughly 5-8 cents per gallon higher at the pump since then, despite the underlying regulations not taking effect until this month. And drivers are out roughly $300 million that they shouldn't have been charged, according to their calculations. State officials confirmed the error to me on Wednesday, the same day they sent a memo to board members detailing the findings — and said it shows the program is ultimately working as intended, price-wise. 'It does sort of validate the points that we were making over time,' said California Air Resources Board Chair Liane Randolph. 'The pricing has played out in pretty much the way we anticipated.' The episode illustrates the degree to which rhetoric and reality are almost entirely divorced in California's interminable gas-price wars — and the difficulty of puncturing the curtain that separates the two. 'It was priced in on Jan. 1, and no one really knew about it,' said Will Faulkner, a carbon market analyst. California gas prices have long been a topic of fascination and speculation, thanks to perpetually high costs that exceed even the levels predicted by the low-carbon fuel standard, the state's 61-cent gas tax, and another trading program that covers all industrial emissions. (A state analysis in 2019 pinned some of the responsibility on drivers, who 'continue to purchase higher-priced brands despite having many options.') And while California's climate policies are a perennial culprit, the low-carbon rule has been a particular lightning rod. Part of the reason is that it's been twisting in the wind: The California Air Resources Board (CARB) began updating it in mid-2023 and didn't finish until the end of 2024 — a long time even by California standards — as environmental groups and industry fought over how stringent it would be and which fuels it would incentivize. That left a lot of time for politics — like a bill by state Republicans to freeze the program, a publicity campaign by Chevron at its gas stations and a proposal by Newsom to boost in-state gasoline's ethanol content — and a lot of time for policy analysis. After CARB produced — and then walked back — an estimate that the changes could raise gas prices by 47 cents per gallon, climate economist Danny Cullenward released an analysis that found worst-case estimates of 65 cents per gallon in the near term, 85 cents by 2030 and nearly $1.50 per gallon by 2035. Another academic, University of Southern California professor Michael Mische, produced an estimate of $8.43 per gallon by 2026 based on refinery closures plus the rules. (Newsom's office responded last month: 'Why not $10 by 2026? $12? Just because one crackpot 'expert' says something does not make it true.') At the same time, Newsom, already acutely sensitive to gas prices after they spiked to $6.44 per gallon in 2022, was picking a separate fight with oil companies over price spikes related to refinery outages. That culminated in a pair of laws giving the state more power to investigate price gouging and oversee refineries' maintenance schedules — and pulled neighboring governors into the fray over concerns that they could raise prices in their own states. Given all the scrutiny, it's fairly stunning that no one pointed out that the program was already priced in at the pump starting in January. That's not even accounting for the fact that since it wasn't in effect, refiners kept the extra money that they would have spent on buying credits. At an average of 7 cents per gallon over 4.3 billion gallons of gas sold, they collected roughly $300 million before the rules actually kicked in. 'No one's paying attention,' Faulkner said. 'The No. 1 thing in Sacramento is affordability, and $300 million just went poof.' The actual process that led to the snafu was largely due to an administrative hiccup. After CARB approved the amendments in November, they submitted them to the Office of Administrative Law, a final step before they took effect. But OAL rejected them over technical issues, so CARB had to resubmit them — and it wasn't clear whether they would take effect retroactively, on Jan. 1, or whenever the agency approved them. Enter OPIS, an oil price reporting service owned by Dow Jones that performs the function of converting the carbon price into the cents-per-gallon price for fuel trading purposes. OPIS started incorporating the new numbers in January, on the assumption that the amendments would take effect retroactively. It didn't remove the added cost until late May, once regulators said the rules would take effect in July, so for five months OPIS' price incorrectly reflected the tighter rules. 'OPIS started 2025 using the proposed targets based on communications from CARB that the agency planned to implement the targets retroactively to Jan. 1,' spokesperson Lauren McCabe said in an email. 'Once CARB indicated on May 16 that it was targeting a July 1 implementation, we updated the LCFS pricing methodology to reflect the outgoing targets, effective May 27. After the amendments were finalized on June 27, we updated our LCFS pricing methodology to reflect those targets, effective July 1.' Randolph said CARB had alerted Newsom and other officials in the spring, when the premature pass-through became apparent. 'When we saw what was happening in the data, we certainly let the governor's staff know, and we certainly let DPMO know,' she said. When asked for comment, Newsom's office referred me to CARB. State officials say they're looking into it. 'The Division of Petroleum Market Oversight (DPMO) is aware of this issue and, in collaboration with other state agencies, is engaging with market participants to resolve this fairly for California consumers,' California Energy Commission spokesperson Niki Woodard said in an email. Bigger picture, this is good news for California at a fairly dark time for U.S. climate policy (although environmentalists are decidedly split on the program's climate bona fides). The low-carbon fuel standard is one of the only remaining major planks of California's climate policies that Trump hasn't touched. He signed a law last month removing California's ability to enforce its electric vehicle sales targets. Renewable energy targets are going to get harder to meet with the One Big Beautiful Bill Act's rollback of federal tax incentives. And carbon prices fell after Trump asked the Justice Department to specifically block the state's carbon-trading program, among other laws. When it comes to the politicians who have been sparring for months over climate priorities and cost of living for Californians, this debacle leaves both sides looking hollow. 'It was a rhetorically useful bit of data for people to support the messages they wanted to put out anyway,' said Colin Murphy, deputy director of University of California, Davis' Policy Institute for Energy, Environment and the Economy. 'And that's politics.'
Politico
16-07-2025
- Business
- Politico
California is still the state to beat on corporate emissions
With help from Alex Nieves, Nicole Norman, Juliann Ventura and Chelsea Harvey KEEPING THE TORCH: California is still the only game in town when it comes to corporate climate disclosure — even if it's taking its time on implementation. After California passed its pair of laws requiring big companies to report their emissions and their climate-related business risks and not only promptly got sued, but started watering down the requirements and timeline for enforcement, other states started stepping up to fill the void. But bills in Illinois, New Jersey, New York, Colorado and Washington have all stalled this year, leaving California as the de facto leader after the Trump-era Securities and Exchange Commission rolled back its federal rule. 'We didn't make it across the finish line,' said New York state Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal, whose second attempt to compel large businesses in his state to report their pollution failed last month. 'That's disappointing.' He conceded that there isn't yet the same level of support California saw for SB 253 and SB 261, when tech giants like Apple and Google came on board late in the 2023 session to push them over the finish line. 'I don't think it was a lack of interest or effort,' Hoylman-Sigal said. 'I think it was mostly due to a shorter legislative session. It's a complicated, big, important bill.' He said he thinks it can pass next year — but someone else will have to shepherd it, since he's leaving the Legislature to run for Manhattan borough president. Other bills have yet to be taken up or were scaled back. Washington's measure was turned into a study bill before failing to advance, while New Jersey's is expected to fall prey to lawmakers' election-year ambitions. Environmentalists who had been getting impatient with California's pace of implementation have since made their peace. Ceres, a sustainability nonprofit that counts Amazon, Bank of America and Target among its member companies, had gotten frustrated enough that it started backing copycat legislation in other states — a reversal from when both Ceres and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which is suing over the rules, agreed a 'regulatory patchwork' would be counterproductive. Now, Steven Rothstein, managing director of the Ceres Accelerator for Sustainable Capital Markets, said he feels comfortable enough with CARB Chair Liane Randolph's commitment to finalize rulemaking by the end of the year before companies start making disclosures of scopes 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions in 2026. 'We are responding to inquiries from states all the time,' Rothstein said. 'But we're not going out and beating the bushes.' The shift in tone is a notable new vote of confidence in CARB after we reported late last year that the agency won't seek corporate penalties for 'incomplete reporting' so long as a company makes a 'good faith effort' to retain data relevant to its carbon footprint, sparking a backlash from disclosure supporters. Gov. Gavin Newsom had also sought to delay corporate climate reporting by two years, and CARB suggested scrapping Scope 3 reporting requirements, which remain in the law and will kick in in 2027. But Rothstein said he's encouraged by the progress he's seen, which includes a workshop CARB held in May on the issue. 'We're eager to do it, but it's more important that it be done thoughtfully and in a diligent manner than a few months' delay,' he said. — JW Did someone forward you this newsletter? Sign up here! SOLAR TRUCE: A controversial proposal to reduce subsidies for a wide swath of rooftop solar customers is no more. Assemblymember Lisa Calderon agreed Tuesday to remove language from AB 942 that would have lowered payments to homeowners who installed solar panels before 2023 for surplus energy they sell back to the electric grid through a process called net metering. The amended measure cleared the Senate Energy, Utilities and Communications Committee on Tuesday on a 9-4 vote. The bill would have aligned payments to early adopters of solar with less lucrative subsidies for homeowners who installed solar panels after the California Public Utilities Commission voted in 2022 to end net metering. That concept sparked a heated debate over who benefits from higher subsidies and whether rolling back net metering has hampered the state's climate goals. Utilities, labor unions and ratepayer advocates argue that subsidizing solar customers' energy bills means that homes without rooftop solar pay a disproportionate amount to maintain the electric grid. Meanwhile, the solar industry, developers and realtors argued that the proposal to reduce payments would have retroactively broken contracts between home sellers and buyers. The bill is now narrowly tailored to ding residential customers whose annual electric bills are under $300. They would no longer be eligible to receive a separate credit funded with cap-and-trade auction revenues. — AN SPEAKING OF AMENDMENTS: Senate Democrats also nixed language from a bill that would have required CPUC appointees to represent different regions of the state. Committee Chair Josh Becker said during a hearing Tuesday that the decision was made in light of Newsom's veto of a similar bill in 2022. At the time, the governor said mandating that commissioners come from different regions was unnecessary because he was committed to having state boards that 'represent California's diversity.' Assemblymember Rhodesia Ransom, author of AB 13, reluctantly accepted the amendment to the current bill, telling the committee that she was 'not excited' about the changes. Some lawmakers and ratepayer advocates have expressed concern that all five of the CPUC's current commissioners — each of whom was appointed by Newsom — live in the Bay Area or Sacramento region, which is served by one utility: Pacific Gas & Electric Co. The bill still contains a handful of proposed changes to CPUC's rules, including a requirement that at least one commissioner have a background in consumer protection and new reporting mandates when the commission decides to increase rates. — AN POINTING FINGERS: Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson said Tuesday that the federal government has not seen California's 'formal request' for wildfire aid, saying that there is a 'multistep process' that has not been completed. 'For whatever reason, Gavin Newsom seems to enjoy trying to stick his thumb in the eye of the White House and Congress, which seems to be counter purpose if he is requesting relief,' he said. Newsom's office clarified in a post on X that they have been in contact with the speaker's office. 'It's our understanding that the Speaker was referring specifically to the White House's formal appropriations request,' they clarified. Newsom took a trip to Washington in February to meet with lawmakers on both sides of the aisle on the issue. That month, he also sent a letter to Johnson and other House leaders asking for almost $40 billion to help with immediate and long-term recovery. — NN AI OBSTACLE — Looming budget cuts at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration could undermine the country's AI-powered weather forecasting capabilities. The funding threat comes as California tech companies have been seizing their moment in Washington in hearings focused on wildfire policy and technology. The Trump administration wants to slash the agency's budget by $2.2 billion — a move that experts say could stymie the improvement of AI weather models, Chelsea Harvey reports for POLITICO's E&E News. While AI did not predict the floods in Texas, the technology was showing potential with weather forecasting and new models are 'certainly capable of predicting 'out-of-sample' events — events that they haven't seen before,' said Corey Potvin, a scientist at NOAA's National Severe Storms Laboratory in Norman, Oklahoma. Meanwhile, Kim Doster, NOAA's director of communications, dismissed concerns, saying in an email that cuts would not negatively impact research and forecasting at NOAA. – JV — The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection put out a new map that shows the severity of all fires over 1,000 acres since 2015. — A new report on state efforts to reduce plastic pollution ranks California as the nation's leader. — The 2026 FIFA World Cup, hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico, is going to have an extreme heat problem.
Yahoo
09-07-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Photon Marine and Silverback Marine Launch Significantly Funded Electric Workboats Through CARB CORE Voucher Program
California customers can now receive up to $300,000 per vessel plus $100,000 in charging infrastructure support starting in August Silverback Marine's eGrizzly Photon Marine Dual P300 EV Motors PORTLAND, Ore., July 08, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Photon Marine, a developer of high-performance electric outboard propulsion systems, and Silverback Marine, a premier builder of commercial aluminum vessels, announced today that eight electric workboat configurations have been approved for funding through California Air Resources Board (CARB) Clean Off-Road Equipment (CORE) Voucher Program. This marks the first inclusion of an electric outboard motor in the program and reflects Photon's dedication to serving the commercial harbor craft sector. Starting in August, commercial fleet operators across California — including ports, harbor patrol, aquaculture, research, construction, tourism, and enforcement — will be eligible for up to $240,000 in vouchers per vessel, with an additional $60,000 for small businesses and operators in disadvantaged communities. All applicants may receive up to $100,000 for shoreside charging infrastructure, creating a total potential incentive of $400,000. 'We believe marine decarbonization starts with small commercial harbor craft,' said Marcelino J. Alvarez, CEO of Photon Marine. 'Electric vessels are no longer a future concept — they're ready now and will help operators save money.' Photon's zero-emission propulsion system delivers 300HP peak (150HP continuous) power, offering instant torque and quiet, low-maintenance performance. Paired with Silverback's rugged aluminum hulls, the configurations are mission-built for demanding environments. Options include the agile 18-foot SuperCub for marina support and the 24-foot Sherpa for aquaculture, dredging, or utility work. Each vessel features Photon's P300 electric outboard motor and fleet management software, with one or two motors and up to 126 kWh of battery storage. 'We've built vessels to take a beating — now we're powering them for the future,' said Ian Gracey, CEO of Silverback Marine. 'This partnership makes electric boats accessible. A customer could get into a new electric Grizzly for as little as $77,000. It's a no-brainer.' Approved models include: Silverback Grizzly (24') – Port ops and hydrography Silverback Sherpa (24') – Patrol, transportation, logistics Silverback VersaBarge (24') – Aquaculture, dredging, utilities Silverback SuperCub (18') – Marinas, pump-out, training These CORE vouchers reduce upfront costs by up to 78%. The program is first-come, first-served. Photon and Silverback are now booking consultations to help organizations secure funding ahead of the August launch. To schedule a consultation, contact Chad White: Alana Kambury Photos accompanying this announcement are available at A video accompanying this announcement is available at Sign in to access your portfolio
Politico
03-07-2025
- Automotive
- Politico
Jumping fuel prices are a gas, gas, gas
With help from Camille von Kaenel STEPPING ON THE GAS: Gov. Gavin Newsom and President Donald Trump are both basking in relatively low gas prices ahead of one of the country's biggest driving weekends. But California regulators and lawmakers are also desperately scrambling to keep gas prices steady in an acknowledgement that Republican political attacks on the issue are sticking. Tuesday could have been a doozy, after both the state's annual gas tax hike and closely watched amendments to the low-carbon fuel standard aimed at hastening the transition away from fossil fuels took effect — and didn't cause an immediate spike in gas prices. 'Republicans spent the last 6 months fearmongering that gasoline prices would 'increase by 65 cents on July 1,'' Newsom's office said in a press release Wednesday, pointing to data from AAA. 'Did this happen? The answer: No.' But lawmakers are getting impatient. They advanced a bill Wednesday that would have the state immediately allow suppliers to blend more ethanol into gasoline — 15 percent, up from a limit of 10 percent now. The move would make California the last state to switch to E15, a blend that a study last year by UC Berkeley and US Naval Academy economists found could lower gasoline prices by 20 cents per gallon. It's something the California Air Resources Board has been studying since 2018 but hasn't yet greenlit. Ethanol, while less carbon-intensive than gasoline, comes with separate concerns related to growing corn for production. Assemblymember David Alvarez said needs to pick up the slack. 'The reason this bill is needed is due to regulatory delays that we've seen from the Air Resources Board,' he said at today's hearing. CARB didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. But the concept dovetails with Newsom's budget language, which gives $2.3 million to help CARB finish the job. Another idea, floated by Senate Democrats last week in a sweeping bill that also took aim at the low-carbon fuel standard, is to move away from another of the state's bespoke gasoline formulations: CARBOB, a '90s-era summer blend aimed at reducing smog, in favor of a West-wide blend that refineries in neighboring states would also produce. That West-wide fuel standard concept has garnered a surprising amount of interest among environmental and clean transportation groups. 'I do think it's something worth examining,' said Katelyn Roedner, California director for the Environmental Defense Fund. 'Do we still need a special blend?' And the E15 idea is getting good reviews, too. 'Generally speaking, it makes a lot of sense, provided we do it in a way that doesn't require expanding ethanol production capacity,' said Colin Murphy, co-director of the Low Carbon Fuel Policy Research Initiative at Davis' Institute of Transportation Studies. But neither is a quick fix. If California moves away from its low-smog formulation toward more reliance on outside sources, it would need to quickly build up its capacity to import more fuel while making sure not to undercut in-state refineries and potentially create more closures, Murphy said. It's unclear, so far, what other states think of the idea, which would hinge on their buy-in to pull off. Spokespeople for the governor's office in Arizona, Nevada, Oregon and Washington didn't immediately respond to requests for comment on the bill. But Arizona and Nevada rely on California for gasoline supplies and are the most likely candidates to have open ears. The governors of both states jumped into the Sacramento fray last year, lobbying against a special session bill that requires refineries to maintain backup fuel supplies for when facilities go down for maintenance. And CARB cautioned that its E15 rulemaking could still take a while. CARB spokesperson Lindsay Buckley said that process could be finished sometime in 2026, 'assuming we get the staff and are able to start the rulemaking process later this year.' — AN Did someone forward you this newsletter? Sign up here! CEQA HANGOVER: State lawmakers are still advancing a suite of one-off bills poking holes into environmental reviews days after Newsom signed a sweeping overhaul of the California Environmental Quality Act in the name of speeding up housing development — though at least one said she's had enough. 'At least for me personally, it's going to be very difficult for me to support any CEQA exemption or streamlining bills moving forward, just because I think we need to tip the balance the other way now, just because CEQA has been really dismantled,' Sen. Caroline Menjivar said at a Wednesday hearing on several more of them. Menjivar voted for the CEQA overhaul on Monday but declined to support bills waiving more environmental reviews for wildfire prevention projects near evacuation routes and for exploratory geothermal energy projects in the Senate Environmental Quality Committee on Wednesday. Both bills passed with little to no other opposition. — CvK SUN BURN: The board of a powerful irrigation district in the desert of Southern California has had enough with solar panels replacing crops. The Imperial Irrigation District passed a resolution on Tuesday opposing new utility-scale renewable energy development on farmland in the Imperial Valley, where farmers grow alfalfa, lettuce and other crops but face increasing water restrictions that have forced some to leave their fields fallow. Renewable energy developers see potential in the desert region's open spaces and have already covered nearly three percent of the region's total farmland with solar panels. 'It's time to draw a line,' said IID vice chair JB Hamby. 'Farmland in the Imperial Valley feeds this country and anchors our economy. … We support renewable energy — just not at the expense of our future.' Hamby is currently locked in multi-state negotiations over dwindling Colorado River supplies, which irrigate the Imperial Valley's farmland. The irrigation district will pass along its recommendation to local, state and federal land use decision makers, including the Imperial County Board of Supervisors. — CvK GRID GAMES, CONT: The Public Advocates Office, an independent organization within California's utility regulator that lobbies on behalf of ratepayers, has taken its stand on a controversial grid regionalization proposal winding its way through the state Legislature: yes, if amended. The position, detailed in a letter on Friday, matters because the proposal has divided environmental and ratepayer groups, with some saying the proposal would reduce costs and improve grid reliability and others saying it could undercut California's renewable energy goals. The director of the Public Advocate's Office, Linda Serizawa, is largely taking the side of the business and utility groups who want to see state lawmakers reverse recent amendments to the bill. Those amendments gave California more control of the regionalization, but Serizawa wrote that may risk alienating other states interested in linking up with California. — CvK — Tesla posted another drop in vehicle deliveries for the second quarter of 2025. — Between rising seas and raging wildfires, California may be running out of safe places to build the housing it needs. — Recycling firm Redwood Materials is hooking up used electric vehicle batteries and solar panels to power a data center in Reno, Nevada.
