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Politico
2 hours ago
- Politics
- Politico
The fishermen allying with farmers in California's water wars
Presented by the Stop the Oil Shakedown Coalition. With help from Alex Nieves, Debra Kahn, Jennifer Yachnin and Jordan Wolman AT THE DINNER TABLE: In California's water wars, fishermen and farmers have long been enemies. But now that federal and state regulators have closed the salmon commercial fishing season for an unprecedented third year in a row to protect declining populations, at least one major commercial fishing group is shifting its alliances. The Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations teamed up with farmers for a first-ever joint Washington, D.C., lobbying trip in early May. They met with members of Congress and federal officials to ask for more money for salmon hatcheries, which breed, raise and release young fish. For the farmers — mostly irrigation districts in the northern Central Valley known as the Sacramento River Settlement Contractors — the goal is to stop fish populations from declining so much that they trigger reductions in water deliveries that are called for under endangered species laws. For the Fishermen's Associations, which have sued for decades to keep water in California's rivers for fish instead of being diverted to farmers, the trip is part of a larger pivot amid growing desperation as high temperatures and low water levels kill their business. 'We've been in water wars for 50 years, and we're on our third year of salmon closure, so obviously we're not winning,' said Lisa Damrosch, who joined PCFFA as executive director a year and half ago. The realignment is also coming at a time when President Donald Trump is promising more water to farmers and slashing both environmental funds and rules — which Damrosch sees as a potential opening. She spoke with POLITICO about her 'America First' pitch, her group's already-tenuous relationship with some environmental groups and the future of commercial fishing in California. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. How did this trip come together and why did you all feel like now was the right time? Everyone is scrambling for what their place is for their industry in a new and changing political climate. We really have been focusing at PCFFA on meaningful change, which we believe is increased hatchery production. We've been working for about a year and a half with the Bridge Group, which is this informal gathering of water users, farmers and fishing industry organizations, basically just to talk about salmon and to come up with some plans. A lot of it's been around hatchery operations. George Bradshaw, who's the president of PCFFA, made a decision that was a little scary, because I think typically, the perception has been that our farming water users and our fishermen are at odds, and I think we've known deep down that that may not be true, because we come from the same kind of place and the same results-based business and hard work and all of the things of food production, but also, we've been pinned against each other in water wars. A conversation was born, and relationships have been built. You're getting closer with farmers. How much is this also a break with environmental groups who want to protect flows in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta? PCFFA, as the representative of commercial fishermen along the entire California coast, is working to stand on our own. Commercial fishing has been hurt by bad environmental groups doing bad things in our crab fishery, for example, and in other fisheries, wanting to shut down commercial fishing. But there's also some great groups doing great work that want to solve problems. We're just trying to make sure that we aren't assumed to have any locked in positions that 'This is what's good for salmon.' Trump, with his obsession with California water, has clearly positioned himself on the side of Central Valley farmers. Are you just trying to appeal to Trump? Well, his executive order on American seafood, seeing those words was very encouraging. I think it's about trying to make sure that there's an understanding that these things are interconnected, that if we're going to move water around, we have to figure out how to mitigate the effects on our fish, because otherwise we can't improve our seafood production. We're looking for the middle. There is a real problem in the Central Valley in that there's not enough water [in rivers] for the natural production of salmon required for healthy harvest and enough water for all of the other uses. So what do you do? We think in this particular case, there's hatcheries. What happened is, over the years, the hatcheries became just about conservation and only just making sure that things didn't go extinct, but not producing enough fish to make sure there was food production. We're trying to shift that back. And I think that's something for the Trump administration. It seems like that is something that is in line with 'America First.' Setting aside water flows and hatcheries, a lot of fish have been dying and will continue to die just because of hot temperatures. What makes you believe in this project despite the continued bad climate outlook? I think that salmon are one of the most amazing species in the world. They're so incredibly resilient and will swim up a puddle of water to try and complete their cycle. We're pretty smart humans, and salmon are pretty resilient, and between us, we should be able to make things work. That may be naive, but I don't believe in the doom and gloom. For commercial fishing fleets, it's as bad as it can be. We're closed. It doesn't really get worse. Businesses won't survive. Salmon is a huge economic driver in the state of California, so I can't give up hope on that. Did someone forward you this newsletter? Sign up here! OUT OF GAS: SoCal air regulators' proposals to phase out gas space and water heaters are dead — for now. The South Coast Air Quality Management District board voted 7-5 to nix two draft rules Friday that would have set zero-emission sales targets for heater manufacturers and imposed fees on new gas appliances. The rules aren't officially defeated, but are unlikely to come back up this year. Those proposals were less stringent than rules approved by the agency last year to eventually ban sales of gas pool heaters and tankless water heaters, but ran into a well-funded opposition led by SoCalGas that framed them as cost-prohibitive for homeowners. Board members echoed affordability concerns, arguing that many of the region's roughly 17 million residents can't afford increased electrical bills or electrical home upgrades to accommodate heat pumps. 'We have a homelessness crisis in this state, and it's because we don't have enough houses, we don't have enough residences,' said board member and Riverside Mayor Patricia Lock Dawson, who was expected to be a swing vote on the issue, 'And it's difficult to add one more cost onto and pass it on to renters and homeowners, and that's what we're doing here.' The decision could offer the fossil industry a playbook for defeating climate and pollution policies that pose an existential threat to their business models. The campaign, which launched last fall, generated significant media attention and vocal opposition from state and local officials, including former Los Angeles mayor and gubernatorial candidate Antonio Villaraigosa, who wrote an op-ed this week opposing the rules. — AN THE CARBON TIGHTROPE: Carbon capture has plenty of enemies on the left, where it's often viewed as an expensive distraction from the fight to reduce emissions quickly, writes this newsletter's editor Debra Kahn in her column this week. But in the nation's capitol it's the right that wields influence over the huge pots of money that are the Biden administration's biggest climate legacy — and as Republicans prepare to decimate incentives for renewable resources like solar, wind and geothermal energy, carbon capture has managed to weather the storm better than many other climate technologies. Read more about how one carbon capture company — Heirloom Carbon — is navigating today's politics in Debra's column, Currents. RIVER TALKS: Negotiations between seven Western states to cut water use from the dwindling Colorado River after a short-term deal expires in October 2026 are at a standstill — and both former and current negotiators are looking at the federal government to step in. The comments, reported by Jennifer Yachnin of POLITICO's E&E News, came during the annual 45th Annual Colorado Law Conference on Natural Resources at the University of Colorado. Negotiators have ramped up their meetings since the start of the year but remain split between the Lower Basin states of California, Arizona and Nevada, who generally hold more senior water rights, and the Upper Basin states of Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming, who want their downstream counterparts to give up more water. 'People want to make a deal, people want to compromise, people want to collaborate,' said Bill Hasencamp, the manager of Colorado River resources for the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California. 'A good facilitator might help break the deadlock.' — JY, CvK FIRE JOBS: The Trump administration is making another u-turn on jobs as fire season bears down on an understaffed West. Forest Service employees who accepted the federal government's offer to resign will still be allowed to take on wildfire assignments this summer, according to a new agency memo reported by POLITICO's Jordan Wolman. The option to return to firefighting assignments is targeted at employees who hold wildland firefighting qualifications known as 'red cards.' Interested workers can register for work through Sept. 30, the expiration date for their administrative leave under the deferred resignation program, according to the memo. The Forest Service has lost at least 10 percent of its staff as a result of layoffs and resignations. It's aiming to hire 11,300 seasonal firefighters by mid-July, though its hiring pace started to slip behind last year's based on the latest numbers posted online. — JW, CvK — Transit advocates warn that San Diego's buses and trolleys face a fiscal cliff if California cuts state funding. — Trump is threatening to sell the red Tesla he bought to support Elon Musk. — Ventura County officials plan to endure rising sea levels by elevating homes.
Politico
a day ago
- Automotive
- Politico
The chaos muppet California needed — but too late
Presented by the Stop the Oil Shakedown Coalition. With help from Camille von Kaenel AT LAST: Has Elon Musk become the climate champion California wanted him to be all along? The Tesla CEO's apparent pivot to self-interested electric vehicle policy advocate might be happening just in time to influence the Senate's direction on $7,500 electric vehicle rebates, which the House megabill gutted last week. It's likely too late, though, to save the Clean Air Act waivers that let California enforce its stricter-than-federal clean vehicle rules. Those are sitting on President Donald Trump's desk after Congress voted last month to roll back the state's authority despite warnings that the move could be illegal. And despite elected Democrats' seizing on Musk's sharp break with Trump as ammunition against the House bill, California climate advocates aren't following suit. 'He is certainly a chaos muppet, but whether he is the one California needs continues to be very much in question,' said Craig Segall, a former deputy executive officer at the California Air Resources Board and a policy consultant. 'He may sort of be blundering through a semi-appropriate door, but he doesn't really seem like someone people would want to keep company with.' Musk had reportedly been trying recently to save the tax credit behind the scenes, despite having declared himself indifferent to its fate early in the campaign cycle. He denied having flipped Thursday, even after Tesla Energy, the company's solar and battery arm, began publicly opposing the bill's cuts to solar and battery tax credits last week. 'Keep the EV/solar incentives cuts in the bill, also cut all the crazy spending increases in the Big Ugly Bill so that America doesn't go bankrupt!' he said on X. But it's California's clean-vehicle targets that famously made his company billions through the sale of credits to other automakers who needed to meet the state's zero-emission sales targets. He hasn't mentioned those publicly, despite claims by Trump that they were at the heart of their sudden split. 'I took away his EV Mandate that forced everyone to buy Electric Cars that nobody else wanted (that he knew for months I was going to do!), and he just went CRAZY!' Trump said on social media Thursday. Regardless of his positions on electric vehicles, Musk's break from Trump world is a seemingly rational move as the company's sales have plummeted in recent months amid backlash over his role in slashing the federal workforce and supporting far-right candidates around the world. In California, where high electric vehicle penetration has long made it a barometer of Musk sentiment, drivers have turned on Tesla. The company now represents less than 44 percent of the state's EV market, down from nearly 80 percent in 2020. Mike Murphy, a veteran Republican consultant and EV advocate, said Musk's abrupt shift is likely to only harden Trump's resolve against EVs, which he bashed on the campaign trail. 'My guess is this spat has hardened the Trump administration's desire to punish the entire EV category,' Murphy said. Another irony: He's alienating Trump to the point where Tesla's stock is dropping further on fears of regulatory retaliation. It fell nearly 15 percent today, with a big dip coming just after Trump's noon screed. 'The quickly deteriorating friendship and now 'major beef' between Musk and Trump is jaw dropping and a shock to the market and putting major fear for Tesla investors on what is ahead,' Dan Ives, an analyst with Wedbush Securities, said in a client note Thursday. — DK, AN Did someone forward you this newsletter? Sign up here! HEATING UP: The ongoing fight pitting emissions reductions against affordability concerns is coming for SoCal residents' gas heaters. The South Coast Air Quality Management District is set to vote Friday on a pair of rules aimed at phasing out gas space and water heaters across a five-county region — home to nearly 17 million residents — that's struggled to tackle nation-leading smog and persistent pollution. The vote is expected to be close — and the episode could give the fossil fuel industry, business groups and Republican lawmakers a playbook for killing future climate policies. The proposal, which would set zero-emission sales targets for manufacturers, ramping up from 30 percent of sales next year and to 90 percent by 2036, is weaker than the ban on new gas heater sales that Bay Area officials passed two years ago and will start in 2027. But it's attracted a fierce lobbying campaign from SoCalGas and business groups, joined by former Los Angeles mayor and current gubernatorial candidate Antonio Villaraigosa. 'While we can't control Donald Trump's irrational impulses, California's leaders must prioritize affordability,' he wrote in an op-ed Sunday. Longtime observers of the agency and even agency staff say the lobbying effort and focus on the gas heater rules are unlike anything they've ever seen. 'In my years of doing this kind of work, and I've had a lot of years of experience, both here and in other parts of the country, this is unprecedented,' said Sarah Rees, South Coast's deputy executive officer of planning and rules. — AN GRID GAMES: It's good for Sen. Josh Becker that most of his Senate colleagues seem to like him because they didn't seem thrilled about the direction of his bill to pave the way to California's participation in a West-wide energy market, SB 540, in a floor debate Wednesday night. The bill ultimately passed 36-0. But not before several Democratic senators said they were concerned about recent changes to the bill that would give more control over the transition to a new body made up of top energy regulators, the chairs of energy committees, and the attorney general. Sen. Tony Strickland called the bill 'very problematic,' for example; Sen. Angelique Ashby said she was concerned because her district's utility, the Sacramento Municipal Utility District, has qualms about the changes; and Sen. Aisha Wahab said she would oppose the bill over concerns it cedes legislative oversight (she ended up not voting). The lawmakers fell in line after Senate President Pro Tem Mike McGuire spoke in favor of the bill and Becker promised to keep amending the bill in the Assembly. — CvK AD BATTLE: Environmental groups have a retort to oil and gas groups' seven-figure ad buy calling on state lawmakers to pledge they will not vote for policies that increase gas prices: their very own seven-figure ad buy. The Campaign for a Safe and Healthy California, which includes dozens of public health, environment and labor groups, is airing its own TV broadcast ad, primarily in the Sacramento area. The ad calls the oil and gas industry's claims 'lies' and urges support for measures increasing fees on polluting companies to pay for climate damages. — CvK THOSE DAMN DAMS: Assemblymember Diane Papan's bill to Trump-proof dam releases passed the Assembly largely intact Thursday, but know that it'll be amended later. The California Chamber of Commerce, the California Farm Bureau and the Association of California Water Agencies said they'd stop fighting her AB 1146 on Thursday after she agreed to amend it to take out most of the penalties for federal officials who release water from dams under false pretenses, as the Trump administration did in January when it dumped water from two Central Valley dams and falsely claimed it would help fight the Los Angeles fires. It's an old tale: Big legislative swings on California water issues almost always get caught up in the complexities of state and federal water law — and opposition from ag interests uber-sensitive over their most precious resource. Papan agreed to drop the $10,000-a-day fines for federal officials in violation as well as the interim relief power for state water regulators, though she also added a provision making clear the attorney general could file for an injunction to stop the 'fraudulent' releases. The bill advanced to the Senate on a 45-15 vote. — CvK — Lawmakers and Gov. Gavin Newsom are set to trim state incentives aimed at reducing demand on the grid when it's strained. — A conservation group transferred 47,000 acres in the lower Klamath Basin to the Yurok tribe in the largest 'land-back' deal in state history. — A New York Times energy reporter takes a ride in famously car-collecting Jay Leno's 1909 electric car.
Politico
2 days ago
- Business
- Politico
Trump's high-speed silver lining
Presented by the Stop the Oil Shakedown Coalition. With help from Camille von Kaenel UNLIKELY ALLY: President Donald Trump is about to snatch $4 billion away from California's high-speed rail project — and all that's doing is reinforcing Democrats' iron-willed support for the beleaguered venture. The Trump administration said Wednesday — in the form of a 300-page report — that it's on the verge of nixing Biden-era grants for the planned rail line from Los Angeles to the Bay Area, a conclusion state officials have feared since the president put the project in his crosshairs in February. Rather than being a death knell for a project that's years behind schedule and has a price tag that's ballooned from $33 billion to as much as $128 billion, Trump's attacks are fortifying state Democrats who hold the purse strings to its largest funding source — cap-and-trade revenues. 'We've seen this coming and we're going to do everything we can to prevent it,' said Senate Budget Committee Chair Scott Wiener. 'Regardless of what happens here, we're committed to making this project a reality.' It's been a question just how much Democratic support the project would garner during negotiations to reauthorize the state's emissions trading system, as several lawmakers made it clear coming into session that high-speed rail isn't their priority amid finite climate funding. That uncertainty made its way into the Federal Railroad Administration's report, which, among other arguments, points to the lack of 'long-term stability of cap-and-trade proceeds' as a reason to cancel grants. But Trump's dual assaults on high-speed rail and cap-and-trade itself lit a fire under Gov. Gavin Newsom, who committed to reauthorizing the program this year after initially waffling on timing and championed a proposal to guarantee the rail line at least $1 billion in funding annually in his budget proposal last month. Republican lawmakers who've long blasted the project as a waste of taxpayer dollars are taking a victory lap. 'Hopefully, this will be the beginning of the end for high-speed rail,' Rep. Kevin Kiley (R-Calif.) said during a press conference. 'This project needs to be over. It has been the biggest public infrastructure failure in American history.' Newsom spokesperson Daniel Villaseñor, when asked about Wednesday's news, pointed to the governor's budget press conference, where he doubled down on his support. 'I want to get it done, and that's our commitment. That's why it's still reflected in the cap-and-trade extension,' Newsom said. Carol Dahmen, the High-Speed Rail Authority's chief of strategic communications, said in a statement that the agency will 'correct the record' on the Trump administration's 'misguided' decision. But she also highlighted Newsom's proposal, saying $1 billion annually will be enough to 'complete the project's initial operating segment' from Bakersfield to Merced. Democrats' continued backing of high-speed rail also reflects an important reality of California politics: Labor unions can still make or break you. That's a lesson former Rep. and gubernatorial candidate Katie Porter learned last month, after she bashed the project in a TV appearance before recalibrating at a labor event and saying she wants to 'put people to work, and I want to get it done for Californians.' A coalition of powerful labor and public government interests announced its cap-and-trade priorities last month, a list of infrastructure projects including high-speed rail. The project has employed nearly 15,000 union workers since construction started in 2015, more than any other infrastructure undertaking in the country. 'The time to double down is now,' said Michael Quigley, executive director of the California Alliance for Jobs, which represents carpenters, laborers, contractors and other construction unions. — AN Did someone forward you this newsletter? Sign up here! BUZZWORD OF THE DAY: Senate President Pro Tem Mike McGuire put up an impassioned defense of Sen. Josh Becker's big energy bill during a Senate floor debate on Wednesday, calling SB 254 the 'most significant reform we've had on utility profit return that we've seen in decades.' The bill advanced to the Assembly on a party-line vote of 29-10, but not before heated pushback from Republicans, who pivoted to familiar targets: California's (now-zombie) electric vehicle mandate and other climate rules they say raise prices. Senate Minority Leader Brian Jones brought up his bill to repeal regulators' changes to the low carbon fuel standard, which he said would raise gas prices but which the Senate declined to advance Wednesday morning. Becker's sprawling bill is supported by environmental, renewable energy and agricultural groups, but opposed by the Chamber of Commerce and the investor-owned utilities. — CvK SOLAR FLARE-UPS: The Assembly left rooftop solar advocates fuming after suspending a procedural waiting period for amendments to pass a proposal limiting subsidies to legacy rooftop solar customers Tuesday night. 'My sense is that the momentum was on our side, so why are they rushing this?' said Walker Wright, the vice president of public policy for Sunrun. The skirmish unfolded after Assemblymember Lisa Calderon amended her AB 942 on Monday to exempt farms and schools, kicking off a procedural one-day notice minimum. Lawmakers approved waiving that procedural rule Tuesday night before sending the measure to the Senate on a 46-14 vote. Spokespeople for Calderon and Speaker Robert Rivas cast the move as procedural. Arnell Rusanganwa, a top Calderon aide, called the move 'common, especially during major legislative deadlines' in an email. He said the late amendments had been made in the 'spirit of compromise.' That's not the only solar flare-up this week. On Wednesday morning, the California Supreme Court's seven justices heard arguments from environmental groups who want to overturn the California Public Utilities Commission's 2022 decision to slash payments to new rooftop solar customers, as well as a defense from energy regulators and investor-owned utilities. They asked the most questions about the CPUC's authority to make decisions — suggesting a possible ruling that could have implications beyond just rooftop solar. — CvK DON'T LEAVE US: EPA's new West Coast administrator isn't happy with Valero's decision to close its Benicia refinery. Josh F.W. Cook, whom Trump named Region 9 administrator in March, aired his concerns in an announcement that EPA had reached a $270,437 settlement with the company's Wilmington refinery over federal chemical safety laws, like underestimating the impact a chemical leak could have on neighboring homes and schools. 'I had hoped that Valero would invest in upgrades to their California facilities and stay in business in our state,' Cook said in a statement. 'They will soon shut down at least one California refinery and leave. This will be a huge hit to gas prices in California, Nevada and Arizona.' Valero hasn't said why it plans to close the Benicia facility. It was the second announced refinery closure in a six-month period, after Phillips 66 said in October that it would close its Los Angeles oil refinery by the end of 2025 due to 'long-term uncertainty.' But the state's Democratic officials have taken heat over ABX 1-2, a law Newsom signed last year to tamp down gasoline price spikes by requiring refineries to submit fuel resupply plans when they go offline for maintenance. — AN SABLE RESPONDS: The Texas-based oil company restarting offshore crude oil production in Santa Barbara is a little on the back foot — but not backing down. Sable got hit with two court injunctions in the past two weeks aimed at stopping its work to revive a pipeline that led to a massive oil spill ten years ago (see our past coverage for more), but doesn't think they'll slow its plans. 'This court decision does not impede Sable's preparations for restarting the flow of oil critical to lowering California's gas prices and stabilizing supply,' said Steve Rusch, Sable's vice president of environmental and governmental affairs, in a statement. He said that the company is in 'full compliance' with a federal consent decree to restart the pipeline approved by a federal judge and 10 state and federal agencies. At the same time, Santa Barbara lawmakers are making progress in their efforts to block the restart through legislation, though the clock is ticking for them to finalize the bills before Sable's restart is complete. The Assembly on Wednesday narrowly passed Assemblymember Gregg Hart's AB 1448, which would prohibit the California State Lands Commission from approving new leases for the construction of oil and gas infrastructure and block revisions to existing leases. The vote to send the bill to the Senate: 42-21, just above the 41 minimum. — CvK APPOINTMENT TIME: Newsom appointed Alana Mathews as deputy secretary of law enforcement and general counsel at the California Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday. Mathews previously worked for the Contra Costa District Attorney's Office. And Edward Fenn was named chief of construction at the California High Speed Rail Authority. Fenn was previously vice president of construction management at Brightline West Trains, which is building a high-speed rail line from Southern California to Las Vegas. — Calistoga is moving off diesel generators to a first-of-its-kind mix of hydrogen fuel cells and batteries for back-up power. — Climate advocates aren't the only ones trying to bend Hollywood to their message: Enter Leonard Leo. — Get ready: The South Coast Air Quality Management District is scheduled to vote Friday on whether to phase out gas-powered furnaces and water heaters.
Politico
4 days ago
- Automotive
- Politico
The other climate rule Trump's attacks are boosting
Presented by the Stop the Oil Shakedown Coalition. With help from Camille von Kaenel, Marie J. French and Caitlin Oprysko THE OTHER CLEAN-CAR LAW: New York lawmakers reeling from Congress' vote to kill California's electric vehicle mandate are eyeballing another Golden State rule to pick up the slack: the low-carbon fuel standard. Fair warning to Democrats considering this route: Things could get bumpy. A yearslong push in Albany to establish New York's version of the controversial program that sets emissions limits for transportation fuels is regaining steam in the wake of Senate votes last month to revoke a trio of EPA waivers that let California — and a dozen states that follow its lead — enforce stricter vehicle emissions standards. We're still waiting for President Donald Trump to sign the resolutions and kick off a court battle that Attorney General Rob Bonta has promised to wage, but New York enviros are already using the moment to lobby for LCFS standards, as POLITICO's Marie J. French reports. 'New York has to lead,' said Julie Tighe, president of the New York League of Conservation Voters, at a press conference last week. 'We cannot let four years go by without taking real action to transition away from fossil fuels, and Washington, D.C., is not going to help.' New York lawmakers don't need to look particularly hard to find out what sort of headaches they could be in store for if a bill from state Sen. Kevin Parker that would establish the state's clean fuel standard crosses the finish line. (That proposal is awaiting a hearing in New York's Senate Finance Committee and still faces an uphill battle to reach Gov. Kathy Hochul's desk.) Case in point: the bare-knuckled sparring on Friday between moderate Assemblymember Jasmeet Bains, a Bakersfield Democrat and potential 2026 challenger to Republican Rep. David Valadao, and the California Air Resources Board, which approved amendments last year (still pending approval by the state's Office of Administrative Law) to tighten the stringency of the program — and potentially raise gas prices. Bains called on CARB Chair Liane Randolph to resign after she said at a hearing last week on transportation fuels that the agency doesn't extrapolate on how much consumers pay at the pump because 'in many instances, that would be speculative.' 'It is outrageous the director would pursue such policies without even trying to analyze the impact on prices,' Bains said. The incident is part of the continued fallout from last year's messy reauthorization of the nearly 15-year-old program. The heated debate largely centered on concerns about the rule's potential to raise gas prices, and CARB did itself no favors by initially estimating a 47-cent per gallon hike, before walking that figure back. The backlash against Bains was swift, as Gov. Gavin Newsom and environmental groups rushed to Randolph's defense. 'What's outrageous is the Assemblymember's stunt as she gears up to run for Congress,' Newsom spokesperson Daniel Villaseñor said in a statement. Equally important, though, is who was missing from the defense. Business groups that oppose LCFS over affordability concerns, and environmental justice advocates who argue the state should focus on electrification rather than alternative fuels, were nowhere to be found. Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas — who established an oversight committee last month, headed by Assembly Transportation Chair Lori Wilson and Assemblymember David Alvarez, to study the LCFS' impact on prices — also stayed out of the squabble, and his spokespeople didn't respond to requests for comment. Those political dynamics are already shaping up in New York, where the state Senate passed an LCFS bill in 2022 that couldn't clear the Assembly. EJ groups came out against the bill last week, writing in a letter that New York can't 'invest in half-measures and failed solutions that burden environmental justice communities.' But New York businesses are backing Parker's bill. The Business Council of New York State, an Albany-based chamber of commerce with over 3,000 members, announced its support in April, arguing that an LCFS rule would allow the state to 'keep open all fuel and technology options' as it attempts to slash greenhouse gas emissions 85 percent from 1990 levels by 2050. — AN Did someone forward you this newsletter? Sign up here! SPEAKING OF GAS PRICES: Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton unveiled a plan Monday to lower energy and fuel prices based on dismantling California's climate programs. Hilton, a GOP television personality, released his energy platform the day before he's hosting a forum on fuel prices with former Democratic Majority Leader Gloria Romero, who registered as a Republican last year over issues like gas stove bans. Hilton's to-do list includes his party's top asks: ending the state's 2045 net-zero emissions goal, repealing LCFS and lowering the state gas tax. He's also advocating for nixing the cap-and-trade program Newsom and lawmakers are currently negotiating an extension of. — AN WATER TRUCE: San Diego and Los Angeles are ending 15 years of courtroom fights over the cost of water transfers, citing the need for greater flexibility and collaboration to handle unpredictable supplies caused by climate change. Under a settlement agreement announced Monday, the San Diego County Water Authority will pay the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California a fixed price for water transfers instead of a fluctuating one, which San Diego had repeatedly sued over. The settlement ends an acrimonious chapter in Southern California's water wars that had cost the two agencies tens of millions of dollars in legal fees and driven political battles across regional water boards. It also frees the San Diego County Water Authority — which is currently facing an existential threat because of lower-than-expected water sales — to cut deals with other water agencies to offload some of its unneeded water. San Diego has spent heavily in the past two decades on both importing and desalinating water. Other Southern California communities don't have that same luxury of abundant supplies, with both the Sierra Nevada snowpack and the Colorado River under strain. MWD Board chair Adán Ortega said at a press conference Monday that the settlement agreement would usher in 'a new era of regionalism' that the entire Southwest should recognize. — CvK EAST COAST FOIL: Florida's longtime cautionary tale on property insurance is changing — maybe. After years of massive losses, Florida insurers made a $207 million profit in 2024, Thomas Frank of POLITICO's E&E News reports. Private Florida-based insurers are returning, and the state-run insurer of last-resort, Citizens Property Insurance Corp., is shrinking. The AM Best credit ratings firm credits the turn-around to rate hikes that doubled the average premium between 2021 and 2023 and legal reforms that limited lawsuits by policyholders. California, meanwhile, still hasn't shrunk its own insurer of last-resort or brought back private insurers in any big way, despite setting the stage for increased rate hikes. A STEP TOO FAR: Senate Majority Leader John Thune sidestepped Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough to revoke California's vehicle emissions waivers, but he's not willing to do the same for Republicans' budget 'megabill.' 'We're not going there,' Thune said Monday when asked by reporters if overruling MacDonough is under consideration as the Senate crafts its own budget proposal. MacDonough will play the crucial role of deciding what polices can stay in the bill. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer predicted that House GOP proposals, like a plan to place limits on the ability of federal judges to enforce contempt citations, will be booted. The parliamentarian question is going to follow Thune, who gave the thumbs-up for the unprecedented move to ignore MacDonough's opinion that Congress can't overturn EPA's waivers empowering California to enforce nation-leading emissions standards. — AN ON HIS OWN: Former Interior Secretary David Bernhardt is launching his own firm, he told POLITICO's Caitlin Oprysko. Bernhardt was also a longtime Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck lobbyist, including for Westlands Water District. The new Bernhardt Group will primarily provide strategic advice, but may do some lobbying work on an as-needed basis. Bernhardt declined to name any of the new firm's clients. But he said its work won't be limited to natural resources policy and could encompass a number of issues the firm's staff have been involved in, from telecom and privacy to financial services and appropriations. Read more from the interview as well as the full list of people joining him in POLITICO Influence. — The Trump administration is reversing course and keeping eight of the nine USDA field offices it planned to close in California open instead. — Analytics firm First Street forecasts Sacramento will experience some of the country's largest out-migration because of climate risks. — California Democrats want the Trump administration to restaff National Weather Service offices in Sacramento and Hanford that lost the ability to operate 24 hours a day.
