UT System chancellor leaves to lead University of California
"We are fortunate to have had Chancellor Milliken at the helm of the UT System for almost seven years,' said UT System Regents' Chair Kevin P. Eltife in a statement. 'The board and I are grateful for our close and very productive relationship with him, and we are proud of what we accomplished together. He has led the UT System admirably and innovatively."
John Zerwas, the University of Texas System's executive vice chancellor for health affairs and who served seven terms in the Texas House of Representatives, will serve as acting chancellor when Milliken leaves in June, according to a news release from the UT System.
Milliken was named the new president of the University of California on Friday, and will enter that role in August, according to statements from UC and UT.
This is a developing story; check back for details.
Disclosure: University of Texas System has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune's journalism. Find a complete list of them here.
Tickets are on sale now for the 15th annual Texas Tribune Festival, Texas' breakout ideas and politics event happening Nov. 13–15 in downtown Austin. TribFest 2025 is presented by JPMorganChase.
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Politico
16 hours ago
- Politico
Your guide to Newsom's gas-price gambits
Presented by With help from Noah Baustin and Camille von Kaenel BLOWING A GASKET: California gas prices are not particularly high right now — but you'd be forgiven for thinking they are. Gov. Gavin Newsom and lawmakers are bandying about a dizzying array of proposals to control gas costs, fueled by the impending closure of two of the state's nine refineries. Those include plans to boost in-state oil drilling, ditch the state's unique fuel blend and pull the plug on previous attempts to regulate refiners' profit margins and maintenance schedules. In other words: Get ready for CARBOB, E15, profit caps and Kern County to become household terms. As the legislative session comes to a head, we got some of the energy world's leading experts to break down if, how and when the proposals on the table would actually work. In-state drilling Newsom's draft bill to boost California crude oil extraction will likely be among the trickiest negotiations during the end-of-session rush, but market watchers say the idea could help stabilize prices long enough for the state to develop plans for transitioning off gasoline. Colin Murphy, deputy director of the University of California, Davis' Policy Institute for Energy, Environment and the Economy, said increasing oil output from regions like Kern County won't bring current prices down, but it could forestall closures of refineries optimized for California crude — like the PBF Energy facilities in Torrance and Martinez. More closures could wreak havoc on gas prices, which some experts already estimate could go up by as much as $1.21 per gallon by next August if Phillips 66 and Valero follow through on their plans to close refineries in the Bay Area and Los Angeles. 'It's one of the strongest, most important things that we can do to hedge against the possibility of a really significant increase in prices over the next decade or so,' Murphy said. Democratic lawmakers are largely lining up behind the proposal, though Assemblymember Gregg Hart — who represents oil-rich Santa Barbara — hinted that efforts to increase drilling outside of Kern County will face pushback within the caucus. And it's ruffling feathers among environmentalists, who've framed it as a giveaway to Big Oil that will harm public health. Fuel blends Lawmakers are pushing a handful of bills that would move California away from its unique fuel blend and allow for a higher-ethanol option that could shave a few cents off each gallon of gas. SB 237, a proposal backed by Senate President Pro Tem Mike McGuire, would direct state officials to consider dropping California's unique, low-pollution fuel, known as CARBOB, in favor of a West-wide standard. UC Berkeley economist Severin Borenstein said the idea could reduce prices in theory, because conventional U.S. gasoline is cheaper to make, but California lacks the infrastructure to pipe fuel in from neighboring states. 'It may lower it a few cents, but I don't think it solves the import issue,' he said. Another proposal would allow the sale of gasoline blended with 15 percent ethanol, up from 10 percent now. Ethanol is cheaper than gasoline, and California is the only state to still limit blending to 10 percent. Jeremy Martin, director of fuels policy for the Union of Concerned Scientists, said E15 isn't suitable for all cars and very little is actually used in the U.S. 'I think it's important not to overestimate how dramatic an impact that would have,' he said. Profit margin caps There's widespread agreement among lawmakers, industry and even some environmentalists that state officials should ditch a 2023 special session law that gave the California Energy Commission the authority to consider a cap on refiners' profit margins. But it might not have a big impact, either. Borenstein said California would still lack the data to determine what refiners' margins are in order to develop a tax or penalty on them, and that companies would easily be able to manipulate outcomes by shifting around costs in their supply chains. 'I have not been supportive from the very beginning,' he said. 'I think it's just logistically not doable.' The law also represents the biggest political punching bag for oil companies that argue California is a hostile place to do business and is running refineries out of town. The commission delayed an expected vote today to postpone the profit cap rule. (Read more on that development below.) Minimum gas reserves Experts say the state's other special session law, a proposal to require companies to hold more fuel reserves to stop shortages when they go offline for emergencies or scheduled maintenance, makes sense in concept, but comes with its own political dilemmas. Increased gas storage could prevent a crisis like in 2023, when prices soared above $5 per gallon amid a fuel shortage from in-state refineries. But Phillips 66's closure announcement in October and Valero's in April came on the heels of this policy being passed, highlighting the power the industry has to push back against laws they don't like. 'The world without a lot of reserve requirements has led us to these spikes in gasoline prices,' Murphy said. 'But you have to build more storage for it, and that's a cost that refiners who are already thinking about just not being in business in the state anymore, probably aren't terribly willing to bear.' The Jeremy Martin idea Lawmakers are taking notice of a regulatory scheme devised by Martin and his team at UCS that would allow gas stations to use a limited amount of conventional U.S. gasoline — instead of the state's blend — during shortages, keeping the pumps flowing and prices down. In exchange, suppliers who take advantage of the voluntary system would put 25 cents per gallon into a mitigation fund to help low-income drivers afford electric vehicles. That proposal is garnering kudos from other experts. 'It seems like a really reasonable middle ground,' Murphy said. And Hart said that's an idea he's ready to push for in a gas policy deal. 'That's another piece I'm going to advocate for,' Hart said. 'I want us to be innovative.' — AN Did someone forward you this newsletter? Sign up here! DELAY DELAYED: California energy regulators were scheduled on Wednesday to put the final touches on Newsom's turnaround on Big Oil by officially postponing an industry profit cap and refinery maintenance regulations. Instead, they kicked the can down the road. In a surprise announcement at the beginning of the California Energy Commission's meeting, officials said they needed more time to consider their resolutions to postpone the implementation of the maximum gross gasoline refining margin and penalty implementation as well as the refinery turnaround timing. After the meeting, CEC Vice Chair Siva Gunda told POLITICO that the key issue still at play is how long exactly the agency should delay its implementation of the oil industry regulations. For the delay to have its intended effect, it must last long enough to give refiners and their financiers the confidence they need to continue investing in their California infrastructure, according to Gunda. 'Qualitatively I can definitely say that typically about five years is a cycle, and we want to provide at least one investment cycle of confidence,' Gunda said, adding that the discussions on the exact timeline remain ongoing. Whether a five-year delay would be enough to sate the industry is unclear. In a statement, the Western States Petroleum Association celebrated the CEC's plans to delay the margin cap policy, but didn't weigh in on questions of timing. 'A margin cap and penalty would be a misguided policy that fails to address the root causes of California's elevated gas prices — high costs, expensive regulations, supply constraints, and the reality that gasoline is, and will remain, a critical driver of our state's economy,' WSPA spokesperson Jim Stanley said. The closely watched refinery rules were the cornerstone of two special legislative sessions that Newsom called each of the previous two years. SB X1-2 gave the CEC the ability to limit refiners' gross profit margins, and AB X2-1 gave it the authority to regulate backup supply when refineries go offline for maintenance. Newsom reversed course earlier this year after Phillips 66 and Valero announced plans to shutter two of the state's nine refineries, asking Gunda in April to make sure refiners 'continue to see the value in serving the California market, even as demand for fossil fuels continues its gradual decline over the coming decades.' CEC officials signaled that they intend to bring the proposal before the commission at its next meeting, which is scheduled for Sept. 10. — NB HUDDLE UP: Refinery regulations aside, Newsom sent a clear message to Sacramento on Wednesday: He wants lawmakers to prioritize passing legislation creating a multistate west-wide energy grid. Newsom invited members of the coalition pushing for the passage of a 'workable' SB 540 to his offices in the so-called Capitol swing space, then sent out photos of the meeting on social media. The guest list included: NRDC Director of California Government Affairs Victoria Rome, Environmental Defense Fund California State Director Katelyn Roedner Sutter, Coalition of California Utility Employees representative Marc Joseph, California Chamber of Commerce Policy Advocate Jon Kendrick, Western Freedom Executive Director Kathleen Staks, California Municipal Utilities Association Director of Energy Derek Dolfie, Independent Energy Producers Association CEO Jan Smutny-Jones and American Clean Power Association California Executive Director Alex Jackson. 'I'm calling on the Legislature to enable the expansion of regional energy markets to lower energy costs, reduce air pollution, and avoid power outages,' Newsom wrote in his post. 'This is our best shot at making electric bills more affordable and securing a clean, reliable energy future.' — NB TAKING FLIGHT: A rare Southern California butterfly just got a little more political. The California Fish and Game Commission voted Wednesday to give the Quino checkerspot, a black, white and orange butterfly in San Diego County, temporary endangered species protections under state law — over the objections of housing developers. The commission will now study the butterfly more in depth and come back in at least a year to vote on whether to make the protections permanent. Developers have already been wrangling with the butterfly since it landed on the federal endangered list in 1997, including by having to set aside land for its survival. But environmental groups who petitioned the state to protect the species argued the additional state protections are essential to avoid backsliding under the Trump administration, which has gone after endangered species and critical habitat protections broadly. Building industry groups, meanwhile, warned state officials the state protections would bring more red tape, slow housing projects and unintentionally undermine existing hard-won conservation deals. The state wildlife officials determined that the butterfly faced significant threats from climate change and habitat loss and fragmentation due to development, which has already reduced its range by over 75 percent to just a few spots in San Diego County. — CvK ON THE DOCKS: The Port of Los Angeles recorded its busiest month for imports ever in July, but its executive director warned that the good times might not last. Port of Los Angeles Executive Director Gene Seroka announced Wednesday that the country's largest port brought in over 1 million container units last month, surpassing the complex's previous record in May 2021, as shipping rebounded from pandemic shutdowns. That comes after the port also saw its busiest June on record last month. The flurry of activity comes after a slow May, which coincided with Trump's decision to increase tariffs on China to 145 percent. Trump temporarily lowered that rate on May 12 and has issued a series of extensions — including a 90-day reprieve yesterday. Seroka said that he expects July imports to be the peak, as importers rushed to stock up on inventory for the rest of the year, though he anticipates a strong August. But he cautioned that tariff uncertainty makes predicting the future difficult. 'The bottom line is we just don't know what's gonna stick, or what's gonna change,' he said. 'For right now, the safe bet is less cargo, but nothing overly dramatic that would put any of us in peril.' — AN SETTING THE AGENDA: On Wednesday, Aug. 27, POLITICO is hosting its inaugural California policy summit: The California Agenda. Come see the Golden State's most prominent political figures — including Sen. Alex Padilla and gubernatorial candidates Katie Porter and Xavier Becerra — share the stage with influential voices in tech, energy, housing and other areas at the forefront of the state's most critical policy debates. The live event is currently at capacity, but will be streamed. Advance registration is required. Stay tuned for more on speakers and discussion topics, and request an online invite here. — A sustainable aviation fuel refinery in Los Angeles that was once touted as a success story quietly closed down in April. — Agricultural tycoons Stewart and Lynda Resnick plan to shut down a grape nursery near Bakersfield at the center of a labor fight and donate it to UC Davis. — Home sale prices in the Central Valley are 2.4 to 5.4 percent lower because groundwater pumping is causing the land to sink, according to new research from UC Riverside.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Yahoo
Canadian canola farmers brace for losses as China announces 75% tariff
China will hit Canadian canola with a 75.8 per cent tariff starting Aug. 14, sending benchmark futures tumbling four per cent to their lowest level since April. The Chinese ministry of commerce said Canadian canola imports constitute dumping, and so it decided to slap a preliminary tariff on the Canadian crop. Colin Carter, an agricultural economist and professor emeritus at the University of California, Davis, said this tariff from China was expected. 'This decision by China is a preliminary announcement and it's fully compliant with World Trade Organization laws,' he said. 'Unlike the tariffs that President Donald Trump is announcing, this is actually rooted in international trade law.' Rick White, chief executive of the Canadian Canola Growers Association (CCGA), said the tariff has farmers worried. 'It's a new risk that they (farmers) cannot manage in terms of one of our biggest export markets and I just don't think, at that price, any seed will be exported to China in the near future until this is dealt with,' he said. The tariff is expected to have a significant impact on the price of canola, with farmers set to face losses on unsold crops. Jerry Klassen, a commodities trader and market analyst, expects a steep decline in canola prices. 'The total effect of this tariff, I would estimate it to be in the range of $150 to $200 a tonne for canola,' he said. 'If a farmer has a couple thousand tonnes, it adds up pretty quickly for them.' China is the biggest importer of Canadian canola, so Canadian farmers will have to look for alternative markets for their canola with the Chinese market becoming a harder destination. 'China was buying between four and five million tonnes of Canadian canola per year,' Klassen said. 'That's the largest market for canola, and you cannot find other destinations to absorb that type of volume very quickly.' White, however, said opportunities exist for canola within Canada's borders. 'The biggest opportunity we have here is within our own borders, and that's the renewable diesel market,' he said. 'We are really pressing our Canadian government to get the clean fuel regulations right so that we can create a new industrial market for canola seed.' Klassen expects an immediate response from the Canadian government to this tariff and hopes a resolution can be found. China taps new sources for canola after falling out with Canada Trump hiked Canada's tariff rate to 35%, but just who's paying it remains a mystery 'I'm expecting a prompt response; I'm expecting the Canadian government officials to get on a plane and go over to China and negotiate this out,' he said. White said the CCGA has been working with the government regarding China's anti-dumping investigation and that he hopes the government keeps the farmers' best interests in mind while dealing with this issue. 'The government needs to be prepared; we are going to ask them to please pay attention to the economics of our canola farmers because the farmers did not create this problem,' he said, adding that producers now face weeks of uncertainty until Ottawa and Beijing decide whether to negotiate. 'Compensation should not be out of the question, depending on the losses incurred here by farmers.' Sign in to access your portfolio
Bloomberg
2 days ago
- Bloomberg
University of California to Tap Bond Market for $1.5 Billion
The University of California is prepping a $1.5 billion municipal bond sale to foot the bill for various projects at its 10 campuses and six academic health centers, according to Fitch Ratings Inc. The deal could price as early as next week and includes two tranches of general revenue bonds, one for $825 million and another for $675 million, per the report.
