The new laws include proposals aimed at reducing exposure to natural gas and oil pollution in communities of color, expanding clean energy jobs and accelerating the state’s timeline for generating most of its electricity from renewable sources energy. Newsom signed them after a record-breaking heat wave forced California to rely more on natural gas to generate electricity. “We could talk about how the world should be and protest about it,” Newsom said while standing under a row of solar panels. “Or we can actually make demonstrable progress.” State Sen. Lena Gonzalez, a Democrat, authored a bill aimed at protecting vulnerable communities from pollution from oil and gas production sites. It prohibits the drilling of any new oil and gas wells within 3,200 feet (975 meters) of homes, schools and other neighborhood sites, and requires wells in these zones to adopt stricter safety measures. Neighborhood oil drilling is prominent around Los Angeles and the oil-rich parts of the Central Valley. “The reason we’re doing this, first and foremost, is because some of us are parents,” said Gonzalez, who represents southern Los Angeles County. Another bill Newsom signed requires California to achieve carbon neutrality by 2045, meaning it will remove as much carbon from the atmosphere as it emits. The state’s goals for accelerated carbon reduction are a “big win for California,” Kassie Siegel of the Biodiversity Action Center said in a statement. The oil industry has widely criticized Newsom’s climate package, saying it would hurt an industry that still provides many jobs across the state. California is the seventh largest oil producing state. Some environmental groups were also critical, though for different reasons. Food and Water Watch California, a nonprofit organization that aims to address climate and water issues, opposed a bill in the package that creates a permitting system for carbon sequestration projects. Such efforts rely on technology to remove carbon from the atmosphere for underground storage. Critics of the technology say it’s dangerous, unproven and a means for oil companies to keep emitting. “Carbon sequestration is a smokescreen for fossil fuel industry players to protect their bottom line at the expense of our climate and communities,” Food and Water Watch California director Chirag G. Bhakta said in a statement. Newsom, a Democrat, also took the opportunity to hit Republican political leaders in Texas. He compared California’s power output to that of Texas, another major producer, where a February 2021 winter storm left millions without power. “And they talk to us to keep our lights on?” Newsom said of Texas. ——— Sophie Austin is a member of the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative corps. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places reporters in local newsrooms to report on undercover issues. Follow her on Twitter at
