RTO Insider
By Hudson Sangree
California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed two dozen bills dealing with climate change, renewable energy and wildfire prevention on Thursday as he stood amid the smoke of the KNP Complex of wildfires burning in Sequoia National Park.
Newsom also touted billions in spending associated with the bills and this summer’s budget plan, which he signed in July. The governor and lawmakers have continued discussing specifics of the 2021-22 spending plan, most of which were included in a budget trailer bill, Senate Bill 170, that Newsom signed Thursday.
“Today’s signing represents about a $15 billion commitment to climate resiliency,” Newsom said during his announcement and press conference in the national park. “It’s an unprecedented investment by any state in U.S. history”...
24 Bills Signed
Newsom signed a spate of policy-making measures Thursday in addition to the budget trailer bill...
Newsom signed SB 596, ordering the California Air Resources Board (CARB) to develop a strategy for decarbonizing cement production by July 2023 and to set a goal of achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions no later than Dec. 31, 2045.
“California is now the leader in driving decarbonization of the cement industry — a crucial material in the built environment, but one that accounts for 7% of all global greenhouse gas emissions and is one of the most challenging industries to decarbonize,” Sen. Josh Becker, the bill’s author, said in a statement Thursday. (See Challenges Loom for Decarbonizing Concrete.)