After years of aggressive climate mandates and skyrocketing costs, California is finally slamming the brakes on sweeping climate-pseudoscience policy mandates.
For those among us (i.e., most of Legal Insurrection readership) who have long argued that climate alarmism is driven more by science narratives rather than by science facts, this moment marks a significant victory. The political tide is turning as progressive leaders are forced to confront the economic consequences of policies based on unproven theories of man-made climate change.
You may recall that California just added some exemptions to the ponderous environmental quality regulations that impacted construction. Politico notes that is just one of many policy retreats from Sacramento.
In the past two weeks alone, California Democrats have retrenched on environmental reviews for construction projects, a cap on oil industry profits, and clean fuel mandates. Elected officials are warning that ambitious laws and mandates are driving up the state’s onerous cost of living, echoing longstanding Republican arguments and frustrating some allies who say Democrats are capitulating to political pressure.“California was the vocal climate leader during the first Trump administration,” said Chris Chavez, deputy policy director for the Coalition for Clean Air. “It’s questionable whether or not that leadership is still there.”
Rising utility bills, insurance premiums, and overall affordability are now making things uncomfortable for the climate cultists in the California Democratic Party. These economic pressures have led them to suddenly begin “climate questioning” after their numbers took a hit in the state legislature during the November election.
It’s Democrats who are now facing the challenge of weighing affordability against another top party priority – reducing greenhouse gas emissions that are worsening these climate disasters. And that balancing act could result in changes to the state’s landmark climate initiative, known as Cap-and-Trade.
Other blue states are ditching their fiscally toxic climate policies as well.
Maryland is delaying action on its cap-and-trade system. Vermont looks poised to jettison an effort to fund home electrification by charging more for heating fuels after bruising losses for Democrats in the Legislature. And as readers of this newsletter know, California has repeatedly delayed plans to strengthen its emissions trading program that officials have cited as essential for meeting the climate goals that the state is already behind on….New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced this month she would no longer finalize a landmark cap-and-trade style program this year as originally promised. She also temporarily delayed a toll on traffic coming into Manhattan and acknowledged the state isn’t on track to meet its 2030 target of getting 70 percent of its electricity from renewable energy.
There is another aspect of this retreat that has gone unmentioned in the above article: the 2028 presidential election. At this point, I am sure that any Democrat with a political resume is eager to become the next candidate.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom, for example, is on his way to South Carolina.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom heads to South Carolina this week to spend two days meeting with voters in the state that officially held the first primary in the Democrats’ 2024 calendar.The trip by the term-limited governor with a large national profile is sure to spark plenty of 2028 speculation, since Newsom is considered a potential contender for the next Democratic presidential nomination.The South Carolina Democratic Party, which announced the two-day swing, said Newsom will take part Tuesday and Wednesday in meet and greets, to shake hands and take questions, during eight stops in cafes, coffee shops and churches.
The Democratic hopefuls are actually struggling to balance the green energy fantasies of leftists against the need to portray themselves as “centrist.” Additionally, having a multi-billion-dollar state budget deficit is not a good campaign look.
California Faces a $68 Billion Deficit. Largely as a result of a severe revenue decline in 2022-23, the state faces a serious budget deficit. Specifically, under the state’s current law and policy, we estimate the Legislature will need to solve a budget problem of $68 billion in the upcoming [2024-2025] budget process.
Leading Democrats in blue states are going to try everything to stem the fiscal bleeding before tossing their hats into the ring.
Whatever the reasons, this retreat from climate cultism is a resounding affirmation for those of us who have argued that policy must be based on real science and economic reality, not Gaia-based theology.
Personally, I am going to enjoy the winning.
image by peplexity.ai
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