Check your California electric bill for a climate credit

Just in case you were unaware, your electric bill this month should be reduced a little bit by a "California Climate Credit."

Photo: California ARB


One of the consumer benefits of California's efforts to combat climate change, monies for the credit come from regulations that require power plants and other large sources of greenhouse gas emissions to purchase carbon pollution permits.

A share of those payments is returned twice a year to residential utility ratepayers and certain small businesses, who are customers of PG&E, SDG&E, and SCE Pacific Power and Liberty Utilities. Additionally, all Community Choice Aggregator (CCA) customers get the credit.

Depending upon what utility you use, the amount of the credits varies from  $29.46 to $126,90.

CARB chair fires back at Trump's EPA, vows to hold automakers to tighter emission standards

California's top air pollution regulator fired back at the Trump administration's EPA today over the latter's plans to weaken air pollution standards for cars and light trucks, model years 2022 - 2025.

Mary D. Nichols, CARB Chair

Photo: California Air Resources Board

Mary D. Nichols, Chair of the California Air Resources Board (CARB) issued the following statement:

“This is a politically motivated effort to weaken clean vehicle standards with no documentation, evidence or law to back up that decision. This is not a technical assessment, it is a move to demolish the nation’s clean car program. EPA’s action, if implemented, will worsen people’s health with degraded air quality and undermine regulatory certainty for automakers. 

This decision takes the U.S. auto industry backward, and we will vigorously defend the existing clean vehicle standards and fight to preserve one national clean vehicle program. 

Meanwhile, today’s decision changes nothing in California and the 12 other states with clean car rules that reduce emissions and improve gas mileage—those rules remain in place. California will not weaken its nationally accepted clean car standards, and automakers will continue to meet those higher standards, bringing better gas mileage and less pollution for everyone.” 

Here is how California's Cap-and-Trade program is helping the state

A new report just released by the California Air Resources Board details the benefits from the proceeds of its landmark Cap-and-Trade program, particularly for disadvantaged and low-income communities.

In the last year alone, more than $720 million generated by the program was reinvested in projects located in all 58 California counties. Over 75,000 projects have been completed, resulting in reductions of greenhouse gases, improved energy efficiencies, and nearly tripling the number of trees that have been planted.

Some of the projects include:

A 44-unit affordable housing development in Tulare County with integrated vanpooling service and discount transit passes is among more than 1,600 housing units funded statewide.

The Cecchini Farm in Contra Costa County, whose fifth-generation owners decided not to sell after they were approved for a conversation easement, is among more than 250,000 acres of land statewide that will be preserved, from coastal watersheds and wetlands to mountain meadows.

Los Angeles County’s Foothill Transit is purchasing 15 zero-emission electric buses to advance the agency’s goal to go all-electric by 2030 to reduce GHG emissions and improve air quality in the inland communities it serves.

For all of the details, the full report may be reviewed here: 2018 Annual Report

Kevin McCarthy helping Trump avoid California environmental laws to raise Shasta Dam

In a report in today's Los Angeles Times, a federal effort to raise the height of northern California's Shasta Dam by approximately 18 feet in violation of California environmental laws is being facilitated by House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R - Bakersfield).

If constructed as planned, the dam's new capacity would flood a large portion of the McCloud River which is currently protected by  the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act. That act prohibits California from supporting or funding any projects that could harm such rivers.

In order to get around this requirement, and the requirement that the users of the water from the dam help pay for the construction, McCarthy and other Congressional Republicans are trying to amend an unrelated federal budget bill. According to the Times, this is being done without any hearings or public comment. The budget bill is critical to avoid another government shutdown.

One of the downstream beneficiaries of this project, the powerful Westlands Water District in the San Joaquin Valley, is supported in this action by David Bernhardt, the Deputy Secretary of the Interior. Conveniently, Bernhardt was formerly a lobbyist for Westlands before being appointed to his current position.

Several environmental groups, industry associations, native american tribes, and politicians are opposed to raising the dam, including the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Golden Gate Salmon Association, and the Winnemem Wintu Tribe. The latter suffered the loss of most of its tribal land, housing, and burial grounds when the dam was originally built. The new construction will result in even more damage.

Congressman Jared Huffman (D - San Rafael), who opposes the project, said, "Under California law, this is an illegal project. The Trump administration would have to abrogate a century of federal deference to state laws on California water to go ahead with this."

California's Natural Resources Secretary John Laird has formally asked Congress to stop the project, saying, "The Shasta Dam enlargement project would inundate several miles of the protected McCloud River in violation of state law."

Just to be clear, however, it isn't only Republicans who have been involved with efforts to raise the dam. Senator Dianne Feinstein (D - CA) has supported raising the dam's height in the past. Those on the political left who would like to replace Feinstein in the Senate can point to this as an another reason why they feel that way.

Ignoring the adverse environmental and social impacts of the project, McCarthy has backed it by saying, "If we've learned nothing else from the past years of catastrophic drought in our state, perhaps we now all agree that increasing storage capacity to capture water during wet years for use in dry years is absolutely critical."

After reaching a low of 23% of actual capacity in 2014, Shasta Dam is currently at approximately 95% capacity.