Web Version [link removed] | Update Preferences [link removed] CBRT in the News Newsom Nears Pivotal Decision: Should California Try To Reopen Again?

California Gov. Gavin Newsom says California is "turning a corner" on the pandemic weeks after locking down various sectors in a desperate bid to thwart a summer surge.

But that puts the Democratic leader at a crossroads. Should California reopen gyms, churches and malls again?

Newsom will face his toughest test as soon as Tuesday when San Diego County is expected to get off the state's list of coronavirus trouble spots. Not only would the county of 3.3 million become the most populous to shed its watch list status, it features a Republican big city mayor who has been driving hard to reopen businesses in a more politically moderate region — and who may be the GOP's best hope to challenge Newsom in two years.

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Rob Lapsley, president of the California Business Roundtable, said his group has called for a centralized process with “real accountability and real transparency.” He said the business community worked well with state officials on sector-specific reopening guidance, but lately he described the state as a “black box” and said his organization has gotten nowhere with the administration’s economic task force.

“Obviously the numbers starting to go back down is the good news. Nobody wants to see the number go back up,” Lapsley said. “But if everyone is trying to survive from a business standpoint, then the question is how?”

Read More [[link removed]] Renewables Didn't Cause California's Blackouts. So What Did?

Energy grids are straining under the weight of millions of air conditioners as heat has engulfed the western United States. In California, which might have just recorded the highest temperature ever on earth, the strain was too much last weekend: The system broke, albeit briefly, and power went out for millions. People are already pointing fingers, with many blaming California’s attempts to get more of its electricity from the wind and the sun, sources of power seemingly as fickle as the weather.

Except that it isn’t so simple. Clearly, solar panels didn’t cause rolling blackouts. “It is ridiculous to claim wind and solar are the problem,” said Saul Griffith, co-founder of the green policy group Rewiring America. “Solar produces when people need air conditioning.”

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The takeaway: California didn’t cause this problem by erecting lots of wind turbines and solar panels. But closing fossil-fired plants without providing adequate backups certainly did lead to the blackouts.

California business associations called on lawmakers this week to provide a more “diversified” set of electricity generation options. Policy makers should support hydroelectric dams, and keep gas plants open for emergencies like this, said Rob Lapsley, president of the California Business Roundtable. He said his association supports California’s goals to cut carbon emissions, but he thinks the state shouldn’t be shutting down gas plants so quickly. “We are not there yet,” he said. “We are not ready.”

Read More [[link removed]] Business Doesn't Want To Just Turn Off The Lights To Deal With Energy Storage

Gov. Gavin Newsom says the rolling blackouts that hit California are “simply unacceptable.” Granted. So, what are we going to do about it?

There is a practical solution for dealing with potential energy shortages in the state and that is to have a balanced energy program that relies not only on renewable energy and innovative energy programs but doesn’t reject reliable energy sources like natural gas. Relying on domestic energy sources will help relieve California consumers from the highest energy costs in the nation.

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“The business community has supported California’s climate change goals and established CARE (Californians for Affordable and Reliable Energy) to ensure that our energy transition will maintain a stable and affordable energy supply for business and all Californians,” Rob Lapsley, president of the California Business Roundtable, said in a statement following the most recent power outages. “Our transition has resulted in some of the highest energy prices in the country and now we are facing reliability problems in the summer months when our economy should be at its peak. We must have a robust and diversified energy portfolio including a statewide energy plan, which we have sponsored in a previous legislative session.”

Read More [[link removed]] ‘Get Used to It:’ California’s Rolling Blackouts, Power Outages

At Gov. Gavin Newsom’s press conference Monday, he discussed the state’s heatwave, record temperatures throughout the state, and the rolling blackouts millions have to deal with over the very hot weekend. The California Independent System Operator (Cal ISO) began the rolling blackouts Friday evening as temperatures stayed in the triple digits. Blackouts were ordered again Saturday evening as temperatures reached 111 degrees in Sacramento, even as Californians pay the highest energy bills in the country.

In Sacramento it hit 109 degrees Friday and 111 degrees Saturday. And notably, most businesses and event venues are closed down under the governor’s lockdown order. So the energy users in California should be using less power, not more.

However, while the governor said he is investigating the power outages this weekend, he also said Californians need to get used to it.

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Earlier this month, California Globe reported that the Center for Jobs and the Economy at the California Business Roundtable announced that California gas and energy prices continued to rise higher in July than nearly all other states. “These outcomes mean that even as many households struggle under the current economic conditions, the state’s energy policies continue to take an increasing share of household incomes both directly in gasoline and utility bills and indirectly as these costs are incorporated into the prices of every other component of the costs of living,” the Center for Jobs and the Economy reported.

Read More [[link removed]] Business Climate and Job Creation U.S. Jobless Claims Rise To 1.1 Million In Latest Week

New applications for unemployment benefits rose last week after a series of declines, showing that the labor market’s recovery from the effects of the pandemic remains uneven.

Weekly initial claims for jobless benefits rose by 135,000 to a seasonally adjusted 1.1 million in the week that ended Aug. 15, the Labor Department said Thursday. The number of people collecting unemployment benefits through regular state programs, which cover most workers, decreased to about 14.8 million for the week ending Aug. 8. That marked the lowest number on benefit rolls since April.

Both figures remain higher than the worst such levels preceding the coronavirus pandemic, with the number of people receiving benefits more than double the 6.6 million reached in 2009.

“The labor market isn’t bouncing back—it’s clawing back in fits and starts,” said Michelle Holder, a labor economist at John Jay College in New York.

Read More [[link removed]] U.S. Economic Recovery Gains Steam While Others Stutter

The U.S. economy picked up momentum this month as companies shook off the effects of the pandemic-induced downturn, though recoveries in other parts of the world slowed, according to new surveys of purchasing managers.

The data released Friday suggest U.S. firms are seeing demand return as they reopen from the lockdowns imposed in the spring and early summer. They also indicate the economy has so far managed to weather July’s sharp rise in new coronavirus infections and business closures that threatened to knock the recovery off course.

Data firm IHS Markit said its composite purchasing-managers index, a measure of manufacturing and services activity, rose to 54.7 from 50.3 in July, an 18-month high, with both sectors seeing a big increase. A reading above 50 is a sign of expansion while a reading below 50 is a sign of contraction.

The index of manufacturing output was up to 53.6 from 50.9 in July. The services activity index rose to 54.8 from 50.

Read More [[link removed]] Next Steps On Coronavirus Stimulus Package Divide Both Parties

Lawmakers from both parties are growing increasingly worried by the stalemate over a coronavirus aid package, but internal divisions on each side are complicating their efforts to propose new measures.

In the House, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) was facing pressure from an assortment of Democrats to consider alternatives to her approach of pushing Republicans to accept a deal similar in content to a package that the House passed in May. A group of more than 100 Democrats wrote to her seeking a vote on a measure focused on extending a federal unemployment supplement during the pandemic, and Democrats from districts that President Trump won were showing jitters.

“We cannot keep saying take it or leave it because we know very well at this point the Senate has left it,” said Rep. Cindy Axne (D., Iowa). “I’m calling on Speaker Pelosi to bring up a revised federal aid package when the House is in later this week to continue our efforts to secure a deal that will help the millions of Americans still in need.”

Read More [[link removed]] Fires, Blackouts, A Heat Wave And A Pandemic: California’s ‘Horrible’ Month

How many things can go wrong at once?

On Wednesday millions of California residents were smothered by smoke-filled skies as dozens of wildfires raged out of control. They braced for triple-digit temperatures, the sixth day of a punishing heat wave that included a recent reading of 130 degrees in Death Valley. They braced for possible power outages because the state’s grid is overloaded, the latest sign of an energy crisis. And they continued to fight a virus that is killing 130 Californians a day.

Even for a state accustomed to disaster, August has been a terrible month.

Across the state there were 23 major fires reported on Wednesday and more than 300 smaller ones.

In the San Francisco Bay Area alone there were 15 wildfires, most of them burning out of control and feeding off the grasses and shrubs desiccated by the extreme heat. Thousands of residents were ordered evacuated in the wine country of Napa County and from the hills above Silicon Valley in Santa Cruz and San Mateo Counties.

Read More [[link removed]] The All-Star Economic Task Force Advising Newsom During The Pandemic Remains A Mystery

Faced with a pandemic that has put millions of Californians out of work and eviscerated businesses large and small, Gov. Gavin Newsom promised that “health and science” would guide state officials in repairing the economy and steering it toward recovery.

But as Newsom rapidly reopened the state in May, he also received advice from an all-star roster of business titans. The Governor’s Task Force on Business and Jobs Recovery is a 108-member group that counts former California governors, Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook, Disney Executive Chairman Bob Iger and former Federal Reserve Board Chairwoman Janet L. Yellen among its members.

For all the boldface names and huge stakes, little is known about the task force, including how extensive a role the group played in shaping the decisions to reopen California.

The task force has operated almost entirely behind closed doors, and those appointed were not required to submit state government financial disclosure forms listing their assets and business interests, which would show potential conflicts. Newsom administration officials said the task force is just an advisory panel and has no authority to make policy, and noted that the meetings are private so members can share their opinions openly.

Read More [[link removed]] Here's How California Can Keep The Lights On While Meeting Its Clean Energy Goals

Even before California’s rolling power outages threatened to become a full-on crisis in the last few days, long-standing critics of the state’s aggressive push into renewable energy were sharpening their knives.

Solar power, they said, had failed California, never mind that state officials never expected the sun to keep shining into the night.

The Wall Street Journal’s famously conservative editorial board was particularly gleeful Sunday, calling brief blackouts the previous two evenings “a warning to the rest of America about the risks of Green New Deal policies.” President Trump echoed the theme Tuesday, tweeting that the “Bernie/Biden/AOC Green New Deal plan would take California’s failed policies to every American!”

The president of California’s power grid operator, Stephen Berberich, dismissed those types of criticisms, saying renewable energy wasn’t to blame for the outages. The real problem, he said, was a statewide failure to assemble the right mix of energy sources for the completely predictable situation of electricity demand staying high after the sun goes down.

Read More [[link removed]] California Court Ruling Gives Voters Last Word Over Uber, Lyft Driver Protections

A California appeals court on Thursday avoided a shutdown of ride-hailing services Uber and Lyft in the state, effectively handing a decision over gig worker benefits and pay to voters in a November ballot measure.

The companies had said they would be unable to comply with a new state law that would consider their drivers employees entitled to benefits such as minimum wage, overtime and sick pay and unemployment insurance instead of independent contractors.

Thursday’s last-minute ruling, in a case with potential ripple effects across the global gig economy, means drivers can continue working as independent contractors while the appeals courts consider the question of driver status.

But the court, which has scheduled arguments in the case for Oct. 13, is not likely to rule before a Nov. 3 ballot measure puts the decision into the hands of California voters.

Read More [[link removed]] Answers To 7 Burning Questions About California's Rolling Blackouts

Since Friday, rolling blackouts — the first non-wildfire ones in 19 years — have sporadically struck parts of California, particularly the Bay Area.

The state’s power grid managers initially warned on Monday that more than three million people would have to suffer the rolling blackouts that lasted an hour or two. But that warning was rescinded that same night, when the temperatures dipped a bit and residents conserved energy, reducing demand.

Two major factors explain why California is having its first energy emergency in two decades: record-breaking heat throughout the West and fewer available resources because of permanent shutdown of fossil-fuel power plants.

Read More [[link removed]] California Housing Recovery Continues, Median Home Price Sets Another Record High

California’s housing market continued to recover as home sales climbed to their highest level in more than two and a half years in July, while setting another record-high median home price, the California Association of Realtors (C.A.R.) reported on Monday. Closed escrow sales of existing, single-family detached homes in California totaled a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 437,890 units in July.

C.A.R. President Jeanne Radsick says, “A housing market trifecta of strong pent-up demand, record-low interest rates and a renewed interest in the value of homeownership bolstered July’s home sales. With this year’s delayed start of the homebuying season due to the pandemic, we expect home sales to remain robust in August and September, extending the season later than what’s typical.”

July’s sales total climbed above the 400,000 level for the first time since February 2020, before the COVID-19 crisis depressed the housing market, and was the highest level in more than two and a half years. July sales rose 28.8% from 339,910 in June and were up 6.4% from a year ago, when 411,630 homes were sold on an annualized basis. July marked the first time in five months that home sales posted an annual gain.

Read More [[link removed]] Energy and Climate Change California Dreamin' (Of Fuel Economy)

After years of legal wrangling, California has finalized a deal requiring five major car companies — BMW, Ford, Honda, Volkswagen, and Volvo — to adopt higher fuel-efficiency standards than required by the Trump Administration.

The left-leaning state reached the legal settlement on Monday, binding the five companies to increase the average fuel economy of their vehicles from around 38 miles per gallon to 51 miles per gallon by 2026. (The agreement will likely incentivize the companies to sell lower-emission vehicles across the entire U.S., not just California.) The deal was first announced last year, when automakers defied Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency by negotiating in secret with California regulators.

The move will likely anger President Trump, who has rolled back Obama-era requirements to make American vehicles more fuel-efficient. The president has also tried to revoke California’s ability to set its own, higher efficiency standards; California and 22 other states sued in response, and that suit is still wending its way through the federal court system. But the outcome of that suit will have no bearing on this week’s agreement, since the five automakers entered into it voluntarily.

Read More [[link removed]] How Kamala Harris Became A Favorite of Climate Activists

In the days after it was announced, the CNN climate town hall last September was heralded by climate activists as a watershed event: the leading Democratic presidential candidates would be talking about climate change over seven hours of devoted cable news coverage.

California Sen. Kamala Harris, whose campaign said she had a scheduling conflict, was the only major candidate initially absent from the list.

Climate activists seized on her absence as evidence that she wasn’t interested or sufficiently committed to the issue—and then she turned on a dime.

Within a few weeks, Harris put out a $10 trillion climate plan calling for the United States to eliminate its carbon footprint 2045 and for the prosecution of fossil fuel companies. Hours later she showed up in New York City for her town hall segment ready to put to rest any lingering concerns once and for and all. In her 33-minute appearance, she not only engaged on climate issues; she took a particularly bold stance: she committed to ending the filibuster if Republicans held up climate legislation, endorsed a fracking ban and affirmed she would ban plastic straws.

Read More [[link removed]] Blackouts Reveal California’s Increasingly Green—And Inadequate—Power Supply

The prolonged heat wave of 100-degree-plus temperatures that grips California has strained the state’s electric power grid to the breaking point, resulting in rolling blackouts for the first time in nearly two decades.

California’s Independent System Operator, which manages the distribution of power for the state’s investor-owned utilities, imposed temporary outages as demands from air conditioning systems in millions of heat-stressed homes approached supply capacity.

The blackouts clearly tell us that California has a power supply problem. It’s unacceptable that a state that with a world-class economy grounded in cutting edge technology has the unreliable electrical service of a third world country.

Moreover, if we lack sufficient generating capacity now, the gap between supply and demand will grow even wider as our population continues to grow and if, as we are constantly told, the climate becomes ever warmer.

Our power supply problem stems largely from political policies aimed at phasing out hydrocarbon energy, such as natural gas-powered generators, shutting down nuclear plants and relying more on “renewables” such as solar panels and windmills.

Read More [[link removed]] Blackouts Expose Perils And Costs Of California’s ‘Electrify Everything’ Push

The blackouts that hit California over the past few days exposed the fragility of one of the most-expensive and least-reliable electric grids in North America. They also show that California’s grid can’t handle the load it has now, much less accommodate the enormous amount of new demand that would have to be met if the state attempts to “electrify everything.”

The push to electrify everything would prohibit the use of natural gas in buildings, electrify transportation, and require the grid to run solely on renewables (and maybe, a dash of nuclear). But attempting to electrify the entire California economy will further increase the cost of energy at the very same time that the state’s electricity rates are soaring. That will result in yet-higher energy costs for low- and middle-income Californians.

Over the last year or so, the Sierra Club, along with the Rocky Mountain Institute and other groups, have been pushing local governments to prohibit natural gas use and force consumers to rely solely on electricity. In July 2019, Berkeley became the first city in the United States to pass a ban on natural gas hookups in new buildings. Since then, about 31 other local governments in California have passed restrictions or bans on the use of natural gas. Last month, the Sierra Club gleefully announced that the city of Piedmont had committed “to going gas-free.”

Read More [[link removed]] Ford, Honda, VW And BMW Seal California Emissions And Fuel Economy Deal

The California Air Resources Board signed a new agreement with the four major automakers

Despite President Trump’s regulations, automakers Ford, Honda, Volkswagen and BMW agreed to continue to improve fuel economy and reduce pollutant gas emissions.

California vehicle emissions rules, are stricter than the rules recommended by the Environmental Protection Agency Under President Donald Trump, they are currently followed by states that account for more than 40% of vehicle sales in the United States.

The California Air Resources Board has sealed a new deal with the four major automakers on the issue after initially announcing its intentions this time last year.

With this agreement, fuel economy figures will improve by 3.7% year-over-year starting in 2022. The current agreement runs through 2026. The figure remains below the previous Obama administration. regulations that call for increases of 5%, but much higher than the 1.5% increase of the Trump administration.

Read More [[link removed]] Why Sprawl Could Be The Next Big Climate Change Battle

President Trump is attacking Democrats on a new front: suburbia.

"They want to eliminate single-family zoning, bringing who knows into your suburbs," Trump said on a July campaign call.

While it's unclear whether Trump's veiled appeal to racial anxieties will help his poll numbers, the focus on single-family homes has touched on a contentious debate in a growing number of communities. Around the country, cities and states are grappling with how zoning rules have deeply codified racial inequity and exacerbated climate change.

Local codes have ensured that suburban homes with a two-car garage dominate the American landscape, but those rules originally were often directly linked to racial discrimination. Single-family zoning was passed in some cities to ensure racial segregation. The deeds of some houses specified that only white buyers could purchase them.

As sprawl became the default, it increased the reliance on cars. Today, super-commuters who live hours from their jobs are driving up carbon emissions. Experts say tackling climate change will mean reshaping neighborhoods with a new focus on public transit, biking and walkability.

Read More [[link removed]] While Big Tech Prospers, An Eviction Crisis Looms Next Door

Six months into a pandemic economy, rifts in American inequality are deeper than ever. The picture is especially dystopian in Silicon Valley, where hundreds of thousands have filed unemployment claims while their Big Tech neighbors are minting millions of dollars a day. “Here in San Jose, you have a company like Zoom, which has seen its market cap grow exponentially, and just down the street you have families who not only don’t have broadband internet but are very likely to have lost a job,” says Jeffrey Buchanan, public policy director at Working Partnerships USA, a local community-labor organization. “The haves and have-nots have always been here in the Valley, but it’s only gotten that much worse.”

Last month, Buchanan and his team issued a report on one of the impacts of this economic disparity. While tech companies have seen skyrocketing profits—and many of their employees have skipped off to Monterrey or Park City to enjoy the perks of remote work—other families in Silicon Valley are bracing for an eviction crisis. With a statewide moratorium set to expire at the end of the month, Working Partnerships USA estimates there will be 43,000 families at high risk for eviction in Silicon Valley. “And that’s the conservative estimate,” says Buchanan.

Read More [[link removed]] Infrastructure and Housing The Tough Questions Pushing California To An Eviction Cliff

Governor Gavin Newsom doesn’t want it to happen. Neither do powerful leaders in the state Legislature. Tenant groups desperately want to prevent it, and landlord associations say they also want to avoid it so long as they don’t bear an unfair portion of the cost.

Seemingly all of the important actors trying to find a solution to the so-called “eviction wave” looming over California have a strong incentive to strike a deal. As the novel coronavirus pandemic has shuttered wide swaths of the economy and key federal unemployment boosts expired last month, housing experts warn that millions of California renters have already missed or are about to miss rent payments. Landlords fear those lost rent checks will precipitate their own wave of missed mortgage payments and foreclosure.

“I know going forward between the governor, the Assembly and the Senate, we have to do something,” said Senate President pro Tempore Toni Atkins, a Democrat from San Diego. “We have to do more, we have to do more.”

Read More Southern California Home Sales, Prices Rose In July Despite High Unemployment

Southern California home sales and prices jumped in July as households brushed off economic uncertainty and rushed to take advantage of rock-bottom mortgage rates.

Across the six-county region, sales of new and previously owned houses, townhouses and condos rose 27.7% from June and managed an increase of 2.9% from the pre-pandemic days of July 2019, according to data released Thursday by DQNews.

The Southland’s median sales price — the point at which half the homes sold for more and half for less — climbed by the most since 2018, rising 8.5% from a year earlier to a new record of $585,000.

The July numbers are the latest evidence of a housing market rebound from spring, when stay-at-home orders and fear over the coronavirus put a freeze on buying.

This week, the National Assn. of Home Builders reported that its monthly gauge of home builder confidence tied a record high, while the Census Bureau released data showing builders are increasingly breaking ground on new homes.

Read More [[link removed]] Shutdowns Amplify LA’s Housing Crisis, With Apartment Development Dropping 30 Percent

The pandemic and economic shutdowns are exacerbating the years-long housing shortage in Los Angeles.

The coronavirus outbreak is putting overwhelming pressure on developers, and apartment construction is starting to mirror the downward trends of the Great Recession, according to a new report by Yardi Matrix. The L.A. metro area is experiencing a 30 percent drop in multifamily development compared to 2019, bringing supply of new apartments to a five-year low.

The issue further complicates an already visible slowdown in apartment construction, and is particularly detrimental as the region continues to grapple with an era-defining housing and affordability crisis. California landlords and property owners this year were already dealing with a new statewide rent control law as well as rising construction costs and a notoriously stubborn entitlements process. And, in response to the pandemic, the city of L.A. enacted an emergency rent freeze on most of its rental units, as well as a moratorium on evictions for non-payment of rent, further limiting property owners and landlords.

The drop in multifamily construction coincides with data released by the L.A. Department of Building and Safety earlier this month, which showed overall permitting in the city was down 45 percent in the second quarter this year compared to 2019. A report released Wednesday by Marcus & Millichap showed average rent was at $2,264 per month in L.A. in the second quarter. There were 3,520 units completed, and a vacancy rate of 4.8 percent.

Read More [[link removed]] Editorial and Opinion California’s Green Blackouts

Millions of Californians have lost power in recent days amid a brutal heat wave, and state regulators warn of more outages in the days and perhaps years to come. Welcome to California’s green new normal, a harbinger of a fossil-free world.

“These blackouts, which occurred without prior warning or enough time for preparation, are unacceptable and unbefitting of the nation’s largest and most innovative state,” Gov. Gavin Newsom declared Monday while ordering regulators to pull out all stops to keep power on. “This cannot stand.”

Mr. Newsom is demanding an investigation, though he can start with his party’s obsessions over climate and eliminating fossil fuels. Even former Gov. Gray Davis admitted the culprit is the state’s anti-fossil fuel policies. “The bottom line is, people don’t want lights to go down,” he told Politico. “People also want a carbon-free future. Sometimes those two aspirations come into conflict.” They certainly do.

California’s Independent System Operator (Caiso) has been warning for years that the state’s increasing dependence on intermittent renewables, especially solar, is making it harder to ensure reliable power. Renewables currently make up about 36% of California’s electric generation, and Democrats have set a 60% mandate for 2030 and 100% for 2045.

Read More [[link removed]] After The Coronavirus Pandemic, Let Public Banks Lead The Rebuilding

The pandemic has laid bare the failure of the federal government to justly deal with the economic fallout wrought by a disaster. Public banks at the state and local level could have helped our country get through the pandemic, and they could be vital in our recovery.

Public banks can provide a financial xxxxxx in our federal system by supporting local banking systems. They achieve this both by providing banking services to state and local governments and by financing credit programs to assist those most harmed by disasters, who are inevitably part of our most disadvantaged communities.

Many analysts have observed that the federal policy response to the pandemic has exacerbated our nation’s existing racial caste system, pushing Black and Latinx business-owners to the back of the line. Instead of ensuring survival for the most vulnerable small businesses, the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) awarded billions of dollars in fees to the nation’s largest banks. The US Small Business Administration’s own inspector general criticized the agency for failing to prioritize rural and underserved markets in rolling out the PPP.

Read More [[link removed]] Newsom's Leadership Needed For Special Legislative Session To Focus On Taxing The Super Wealthy And Investing In An Equitable Recovery

There’s a reason Gov. Gavin Newsom will be speaking to the Democratic National Convention tonight, as Joe Biden accepts the party nomination. This nation, reeling from the effects of a pandemic and its legacy of systemic racism, is starved for leadership.

That is a quality Newsom has demonstrated in abundance. Whether it was in becoming the first governor to order a statewide lockdown to blunt the initial surge of COVID-19 or stepping out as mayor of San Francisco to lead the nation on marriage equality, Newsom has shown he can be unafraid.

Newsom’s moment as a rising star in the spotlight comes as California faces dire circumstances that need bold leadership.

This public health crisis has called into sharp focus the structural inequities that plague California. Black and brown workers whose jobs have been essential to keep the economy functioning are being ravaged by a virus that thrives in the close quarters of the factories, fields and packing houses in which they work.

Read More [[link removed]] Solving California's Heat-Induced Rolling Blackouts With Clean Energy Innovation

California experienced rolling blackouts over the weekend as our fossil-fuel reliant grid failed to respond to soaring temperatures, leaving many residents without air-conditioning or access to life-saving medical equipment.

Our heavy reliance on fossil fuels got us into this climate crisis, including the extreme heat waves across the Western United States. Because we have not moved fast enough to put in place the resilient, renewable energy system we need, California lacks plans for shifting electricity needs to the times when it is available.

Gov. Gavin Newsom has been working to address this emergency, and on Monday, he took a step in the right direction by ordering regulators to deliver some answers, but they – and we – already know what we need to do.

Read More [[link removed]] California Business Roundtable 1301 I Street, Sacramento, CA 95814 916.553.4093 | [[link removed]] Web Version [link removed] | Update Preferences [link removed] | Unsubscribe [link removed]