Trump-Proofing Time on the California Legislature?
Governor Newsom has referred to as a particular session for December 2nd. How can California lawmakers guarantee California’s local weather and environmental progress within the years forward?
Over the last Trump administration, California emerged as a severe counterweight to federal authorities backsliding on local weather and the atmosphere, and final week, some California lawmakers publicly recommitted to resisting future Trump administration efforts to scale back environmental and local weather protections. On November 7, Governor Newsom issued a proclamation calling the Legislature right into a particular session (the second prior to now three months!) to think about laws that will bolster the state’s efforts on this rating.
The Governor’s proclamation particularly references two key priorities: (1) offering funding to California DOJ and different state companies to litigate in opposition to the Trump administration, each to affirmatively problem Trump insurance policies and to defend California’s; and (2) prompting state administrative efforts to mitigate the influence of Trump administration actions.
What may laws that achieves these objectives appear like? Right here are some things legislators may think about:
- Measures to forestall backsliding if present federal protections disappear. This isn’t a brand new idea—payments on this vein have been proposed earlier than, and one even handed (earlier than being vetoed) in 2019. Whereas California already has strong environmental and local weather legal guidelines, Biden-era requirements on dangerous PM2.5 air pollution, PFAS/PFOA, and methane emissions, amongst others, might be impacted and in want of a state-level backstop. The Legislature may undertake language requiring the state to implement the present federal requirements, or to require state regulators and air districts to undertake rules which are no much less stringent than present federal requirements.
- Ensuring state companies are well-positioned for the inevitable onslaught of litigation. Because the Governor’s proclamation suggests, and because it did throughout the first Trump administration, California is prone to discover itself in courtroom quite a bit over the subsequent 4 years. The state will definitely be referred to as upon to defend necessary local weather and environmental insurance policies, and to go on the offensive when federal authorities actions undermine California’s progress—for instance, the state is already anticipating revocation of its EPA waiver for its zero-emissions car mandate, and there are a number of excellent waiver requests that an incoming Trump administration is prone to both revoke or deny, relying on their standing on the time Trump takes workplace. Duking these points out in courtroom would require not solely attorneys, however state company employees sources to construct out ironclad evidentiary data. The Legislature can collaborate by the state’s price range course of to verify the sources for these efforts are there.
- Making certain sufficient monetary sources to maintain California’s insurance policies on observe. California can even use the ability of the purse to assist present stability to markets and defend necessary state sources. Uncertainty about federal regulatory coverage and future federal authorities funding in clear vitality and inexperienced applied sciences may discourage buyers, however California could possibly function some extent of a counterweight by shifting ahead with in-state initiatives and offering state incentives for the continued growth of greener tech. On one other entrance, issues {that a} Trump administration will decline to guard vital species habitat and tribally-significant lands might be mitigated by state efforts. Whereas California lacks management over federal lands, it could possibly dedicate sources to preservation of state lands per assembly its 30×30 conservation goal. Equally, the state can fight potential modifications to federal wildfire and forest administration coverage by staying the course on funding key wildfire prevention efforts. On these final two factors, there was some good down-ballot information: Californians authorized Proposition 4, a $10 billion local weather bond, by a large margin. Bond laws already required funds to be earmarked for wildfire and forest resilience packages, biodiversity safety, and park creation, amongst different issues; staying the course in offering these sources will assist mitigate modifications made on the federal degree.
Regardless of the California Legislature does when it comes into session in December, one factor is obvious: The state is in for a years-long battle with the Trump administration. The particular session will kick off a protracted effort to make sure California continues to guide on local weather and the atmosphere, points vastly necessary to the vast majority of California voters. However California lawmakers will have to be ready to iterate as this saga unfolds—if there’s one factor the final Trump administration taught us, it’s that the coverage decisions that will probably be made on the federal degree within the coming months and years are something however sure.