After climate summit, California Gov. Gavin Newsom faces key decisions to reduce emissions back home
The California Legislature sent a wide range of bills to Gov. Gavin Newsom's desk this year to help the state mitigate and adapt to climate change
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California Gov. Gavin Newsom made big waves in the climate world recently by announcing a lawsuit alleging major oil and gas companies deceived the public about the risks fossil fuels posed for global warming and saying he would sign the nation's most sweeping emissions reporting rules for large companies.
Newsom must now decide whether to go even further. Lawmakers have sent him bills aiming to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from buildings, help schools adapt to the changing climate and ease the cost to taxpayers for the cleanup of orphan oil and gas wells.
After the Legislature wrapped up for the year earlier this month, Newsom touted California's leadership on environmental issues at a United Nations climate summit in New York. In California, he said, climate change has led to “places, lifestyles and traditions being destroyed right in front of our eyes, despite all of that leadership.”
“If you read the newspaper or turn on your TV… you see a state, not just of dreamers and doers, but you see a state that's burning up," Newsom said.
Newsom said he would sign a bill requiring companies making more than $1 billion in annual revenue to disclose a wide range of greenhouse gas emissions. He also said he would sign legislation requiring companies making more than $500 million annually to disclose how climate change can affect their businesses financially and how they plan to adapt.
There were some major climate proposals that did not pass the Legislature this year, including rules to expand what pollutants have to be monitored near refineries and
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