California Can Thread the Needle on Oil Prices, Heatwaves, and Trump Attacks this Year

This year has been off to a wild start as Californians ride out record spring heatwaves and dig deeper in their wallets as gas prices creep closer to six buck a gallon amid war with Iran. It’s hard to know what to expect next, but it’s worth taking time to see what’s moving in the California legislature that will shape our energy future, our climate reality, and whether or not we’ll be breathing clean air in a few years. While the Trump administration continues to take swings at California’s environmental protections, it’s up to our state lawmakers to be nimble and creative to make sure we stay on course for a cleaner future.  

Earthjustice is excited to be sponsoring two bills this legislative session and supporting a slew of other good ideas that will help us move forward. Meanwhile, the oil and gas industry isn’t content to just do their dirty lobbying in D.C.: they’re walking the halls of Sacramento pushing a bad bill to tie the hands of the local agencies protecting California’s air quality. Here’s the rundown of key bills to watch — especially bills we’ll be asking our California supporters to contact their legislators about in the coming months. 

Cleaning up California’s Pollution Magnets

The California Clean Skies Act (AB 1777) ensures our state has the tools necessary to clean up the air from some of the worst polluters. Today, the endless fleets of dirty diesel trucks that carry goods to and from pollution magnets like warehouses, railyards, and ports are pumping pollution into neighborhoods. The California Clean Skies Act would affirm the state’s ability to regulate these pollution magnets.

A sea of trucks haul shipping containers at the Port of Los Angeles.
(Getty Images)

The recent federal rollback of California’s life-saving vehicle standard puts us on a path that will result in a dramatic increase  of health-harming air pollution for the next generations of Californians. According to air regulators, the Trump administration’s attacks on California’s standards will send 14,500 Californians to an early death and lead to 6,700 additional emergency room visits.

If California were to pass AB 1777 and enact what are called “indirect source rules,” the state could skip around the thorny issue of getting permission from the federal government with an EPA waiver. Goodbye pollution, hello cleaner skies.

Giving Californians Money to Upgrade to Better Appliances

Californians just rode through the hottest March on record, but one in four of the state’s residents still don’t have access to home cooling systems. Two bills that we’re supporting would help change that.  

The Home Energy Choice Act (AB 2313) would help tens of thousands of Californians upgrade to modern appliances by investing in our homes instead of methane gas pipelines. With this bill, every time a utility needs to replace an old gas service line, they would offer the homeowner the choice to purchase modern electric appliances instead and get their homes off gas altogether. In PG&E’s territory, that would provide homeowners with incentives in the range of $15,000 to $17,500 to invest in their home. In PG&E’s territory alone, the utility does about 15,000 gas service line replacements per year. When you take that number and multiply it across the state, you’re looking at a lot of California households potentially enjoying a major upgrade with appliances like heat pumps and induction stoves.

Heat pumps power our everyday lives. (Lily Padula for Earthjustice)

These incentives can be used to help homes cleaner and more comfortable by installing appliances like heat pumps. Because heat pumps have two-way valves that provide both heating and cooling, more families will have access to air conditioning during the hottest days. That’s critical because while temperate parts of California used to rarely see summer heat spike into the 90s or above, that is quickly changing.  

Another notable bill, the Heat Pump Access Act (SB 222), streamlines the permitting process for heat pump installations so that it’s faster, easier, and more affordable for homeowners and contractors. Today, the state’s permitting system makes heat pump installations more complicated than it needs to be. The Heat Pump Access Act, authored by Senator Scott Wiener, is a commonsense fix that gives Californians a more predictable path to upgrade their homes with clean heating and cooling. 

Of note, a similar bill (SB 868) to help Californians get plug-in solar panels on their balconies, decks, and backyards would be a boon for the 44% of Californians who rent. These portable devices are renter-friendly and would help expand access to folks around the state looking to harness the power of the sun’s rays. 

A Fix for California’s Diesel Woes

Like any tight budget year in California, there are many different competing priorities and voices clamoring for a piece of the pie. But it’s important for the state to devote our tax dollars to the solutions that have the greatest impact. That’s why we’re asking for the state to devote at least $450 million to non-polluting trucks and buses and at least $75 million for the equipment to charge them. 

Transportation is the largest source of air pollution in the state, and diesel trucks are the dirtiest vehicles on our roads. Even though they make up less than 10% of vehicles, they produce the majority of health-harming air pollution, contributing to 1,400 early deaths and hundreds of hospitalizations and emergency room visits each year. This kind of truck pollution costs the state $14 billion in annual health damages.  

Not to mention, spiking diesel costs for the state’s freight and manufacturing sectors amid war with Iran could have major effects on California’s economy. Helping companies in the state purchase non-polluting trucks and get off diesel is a sound investment in our future. With the state’s budget outlook looking rosier than predicted as revenues come in higher than expected this year, this would be a very wise place to spend California’s dollars. 

Gas prices are spiking across the U.S., including at this Los Angeles Chevron station on March 9. (Frederic J. Brown / AFP via Getty Images)

The Bad Bill to Distract California Lawmakers

It wouldn’t be a California legislative session without attempts from the oil and gas industry to undermine policies that save people’s lives. This year is unfortunately no different, which is why Earthjustice is opposing AB 2752.

To the casual observer, the bill might look reasonable. “It simply requires regulators to calculate the cost of all previous and future policies that impact refineries in the state,” they might say. In reality, the law would dramatically slow down all efforts to reduce pollution, and throw sand in the gears of clean air policies under the guise of reducing consumer costs. 

This is rich stuff coming from an industry long accused of profiteering off the backs of Californians: UC Berkeley research and a state watchdog have confirmed that the oil and gas industry has been charging a mystery surcharge on Californians at gas stations for the last decade. It hovers at about 41 cents per gallon. AB 2752 is nothing more than a red herring from an industry that loves to target California’s clean air protections. 

Earthjustice is fighting hard in Sacramento because we believe good policy will help ensure California protects its people and charts a steady course to a brighter future, regardless of who is in power in D.C. Join me in a few weeks as we ask you to contact your legislators and Governor Newsom in support of these priorities. Each email and every call to your legislator will matter as we fight for our future in the Golden State.