“Organized Labor”, “Moderate Democrats” Hinder Californians’ Climate Efforts – Can That Be Improved?

Guest essay by Eric Worrall

Do cracks appear in the tropical climate of California? The LA Times lamented that the “so-called moderate democrats” in the legislature and “organized labor” do not share Governor Newsom’s radical climate ambitions.

California needs to do more than just throw money at climate change. It must act

VIA TIMES EDUCATION BOARDJANUARY. 16, 2022 5 am pacific time

For the second year in a row, California is blessed with a large budget surplus, and Governor Gavin Newsom is once again looking to spend those billions on climate change.

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Newsom is right to take advantage of this to do more to adapt to a warming climate and push the state toward a carbon-free future, and the Legislature should back his proposal. But allocating money is not enough. We need action from state legislators who still haven’t mandated emissions cuts fast enough, steep enough, or broad enough to get California on track to avoid truly catastrophic warming.

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California is lagging behind other states and countries with outdated climate goals and mandates, and hasn’t passed major climate legislation in years. Among the biggest obstacles are the so-called moderate Democrats in the Legislature, who have acted at the behest of oil and gas interests and labor organizations to stop climate action.

Newsom, to his credit, has begun pushing for executive orders and administrative actions to limit fossil fuels. But he must do more to convince lawmakers to overcome their reluctance to act. He should start by articulating a plan and vision not just for spending on climate change but for legislation that truly matches the scale of the problem and re-establishes California as a leader. climate leadership. He must track these spending priorities with a legislative agenda that puts some muscle behind the money.

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Read more: https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2022-01-16/climate-change-funding

By any reasonable measure, California’s climate push is a complete failure. California has to import about 25% of its electricity from elsewhere because their useless wind and solar infrastructure cannot meet their needs.

Instead of pausing to address this shortfall, however, the likes of Governor Newsom and his cheerleaders in the LA Times are focusing on pushing ahead with brilliant climate initiatives like electricity. gasification of home heating and more electric vehicles, initiatives that will further strain California’s badly power-hungry grid.

In my opinion, the reluctance of “moderate democrats” and organized labor to wholeheartedly accept Newsom’s climate extremism is a sign that ordinary people are fed up.

As an expat visiting California only once (not in transit), I don’t know what life would be like there – but do people in California today really feel like a winner?

20, 30 years ago, California was the place to be. But right now, today, from the outside, when I look at California, all I see is problems.

What an outsider like me saw was the sky-high cost of living, self-induced frenzy of energy and gas prices, High taxes, supply chain chaos, Hypocrites lock down Covid, power-off, Regulators could not prevent power lines from being cut from starting wildfires, Homelessness and crime are rampant, and a state governor obsessed with climate change, he continues to do The decision makes no sense, while ignoring all practical problems.

I’m sure there’s more to life in California than all the problems. But it’s not a pretty look.