Why is Newsom trying to delay our climate disclosure laws?
If our governor is really the "climate champion" he claims to be, it's time he actually started acting like one.
Governor Gavin Newsom likes to style himself as a climate leader but it’s becoming increasingly questionable as to whether that status is remotely accurate or deserved. As I wrote back in June:
[G]enuine global climate leadership needs to amount to much more than lofty, distant goals or rousing speeches in illustrious international fora.
To make meaningful progress on climate, ambitious targets and impressive sounding rhetoric is no match for ambitious action and meaningful accountability. This is where California is in grave danger of becoming a climate laggard.
Not content with kneecapping household rooftop solar, the state seems hellbent on stymieing community solar before it ever gets the chance to scale, too.
Now, Newsom appears to be doing even more to undermine his climate cred
His administration is proposing a (wholly unecessary!) two-year delay to the implementation of the hard-fought climate disclosure laws, SB 253 and SB 261, that were promulgated last year.
These laws offer some of the best regulatory tools there are to understand and reduce the emissions of large private sector companies. The kind of disclosure and accountability they insist on should’ve been part of company accounting a long time ago. To be delaying them in the midst of a climate crisis is sheer, reckless insanity.
What are you afraid of, Governor Newsom?
It’s hard to know exactly why Governor Newsom is being so skittish — why he wants to delay the implmentation of two laws that the California legislature passed, and which he signed (almost a year ago!). Is it because powerful corproate donors and lobbyists have undue sway over his administration? Is it because his professed commitment to a liveable planet, to acting on climate action, is actually just a cynical ploy to curry favor with the eco-anxious?
Who knows? What I do know is that it is within his power to counter this kind of speculation: To show, rather than tell us, that he gives a damn about the climate.
It’s simple.
If you’re a climate champion, act like one. Now.
This is what all of our elected representatives, including the governor, need to remember. Talk is cheap. You can say you’re a climate champion, but actions speak louder than rhetoric. So much time has already been squandered. As the wildfires raging across the Golden State painfully remind us, we need to act with urgency.
You will be judged by your actions—not by what you promised, or proclaimed. Future generations of Californians will be unsparing in their judgment of you if you insist on delay, obfuscation and inaction.
Do the right thing.
Per the Politico California Climate1 newsletter yesterday:
Twenty-nine lawmakers pushed back Monday against the Department of Finance’s June budget proposal to delay SB 253 and SB 261, last year’s laws that compel large companies operating in California to disclose their planet-warming emissions and climate-related financial risks.
“California is set to be the backstop for the entire nation’s progress on crucial corporate data disclosures,” the lawmakers wrote, referencing the SEC rule that’s currently on pause. “Without a federal standard that aligns with other international reporting requirements, the impetus to ensure the United States is not falling behind the rest of the world lays with California.”
Environmental groups chimed in Monday, too, in a letter to legislative leadership. “We ask for your support in rejecting the Newsom Administration’s proposal,” wrote Ceres, EnviroVoters, Public Citizen, Sierra Club, Union of Concerned Scientists and CalPIRG, among other groups.
If you would like to join the growing chorus encouraging the Newsom Administration to start implementing and enforcing these laws, then here’s your chance. Per NextGen Policy:
We need your help to protect California's climate leadership. Please add your name to our letter urging Governor Gavin Newsom, State Senate President pro Tempore Mike McGuire, State Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas, and Assembly Budget Committee Chair Jesse Gabriel to reject the proposal to delay these laws. Your voice can make a difference in ensuring that large corporations are held accountable for their impact on our climate.
Worth subscribing to if you’re interested in California climate law, policy and politics!
Truth to Power! THANK YOU!
I signed petition/letter and shared your excellent summary of Newsome's slimey political maneuvering. WE SEE YOU, GAVIN!
Well written and timely article! Good job!