News: Climate change rears its ugly head again

Tuesday, July 26, 2022

Climate change rears its ugly head again

Jul 26, 2022

By Lara Korte , Jeremy B. White and Sakura Cannestra

Presented by CVS Health

THE BUZZ — A NEW NORMAL? In a pattern that has become disturbingly familiar, Californians are once again witnessing the ravaging effects of climate change. The Oak Fire, which sprung up Friday in Mariposa County, has quickly grown to be this year's largest inferno, prompting the evacuation of nearly 6,000 residents and sprawling across nearly 17,000 acres — about 25 square miles.

The blaze underlines a predicament that has been looming over the west for years: Temperatures are rising, dry spells are getting longer and drier, and incidents of unpredictable and destructive wildfires are becoming more frequent and tougher to control.

California lawmakers now bear the unenviable task of figuring out how to survive in this new reality, a problem that requires not only solutions in the short-term, but massive changes to the way the state provides power to its 40 million residents.

As of Monday night, fire fighters had contained 16 percent of the blaze. While the source of the Oak Fire is still under investigation, Cal Fire had previously attributed the ongoing burn to "dry dead and downed fuels," AKA vegetation, trees and brush. The state in recent years has allocated a good deal of money trying to clean up forests and fortify them against wildfire, including spending a record $1.5 billion last year on wildfire and forest resilience. But it's not clear those funds are having their intended effect. An investigation last month by CapRadio found Cal Fire continues to struggle with forest management.

Lawmakers put up another $1.2 billion this year for wildfire and forest resilience, though $530 million has yet to be allocated, something the governor's office and legislative leaders are expected to negotiate upon returning to Sacramento in August.

This year's budget also includes $38.8 billion in climate resilience funding, with money going toward programs to reduce pollution and transition to cleaner energy. One part of the budget however, a $2.2 billion Strategic Reliability Fund backed by Gov. Gavin Newsom, has raised the ire of some environmental groups who criticize its reliance on gas-powered electricity in trying to prop up the state's electric grid through extreme heat waves.

As critics bashed lawmakers for not moving fast enough toward climate change goals, Newsom last week sent a letter to the chair of the California Air Resources Board, asking the agency to include "bold actions" in its long-term plans to mitigate climate change. Specifically, he's requesting new targets on wind energy production and climate-friendly homes, as well as telling state agencies to prepare for a transition away from fossil fuels.

BUENOS DÍAS, good Tuesday morning. The California Labor Federation kicks off its bi-annual, two-day convention in San Francisco today. In the afternoon workers and nurses are planning to protest Amazon's $3.9 billion deal to purchase health care start-up One Medical.

Got a tip or story idea for California Playbook? Hit us up: jwhite@politico.com and lkorte@politico.com or follow us on Twitter @JeremyBWhite and @Lara_Korte .

QUOTE OF THE DAY: "I wouldn't get on my knees and beg for anyone." Tesla CEO Elon Musk in an interview with the New York Post after reports that he had dropped to one knee and begged for forgiveness from Sergey Brin after allegedly having an affair with the then-wife of the Google co-founder.

TWEET OF THE DAY: San Francisco Sen. Scott Wiener on the urgent need for a monkeypox response: "Once again, San Francisco has run out [of] Monkeypox vaccine & the walk-in clinic at San Francisco General Hospital is shutting down. SF doesn't yet know when new supply will arrive or how much.

"This is beyond unsustainable. It can't go on this way."

WHERE'S GAVIN? Nothing official announced.

A message from CVS Health:

Throughout the pandemic, in California and communities across the country, CVS Health has been there. We've opened more than 4,800 COVID-19 test sites, administered 41 million tests and given 67 million vaccines. We've expanded access to prenatal and postpartum care via telemedicine, increased remote access to mental health services and invested in affordable housing to help build healthier communities. We've been on the frontlines, making health care easier to access and afford. Learn more.

TOP TALKERS

— " Kamala Harris Is Stuck ," opines Jeffrey Frank for the New York Times: "If other presidents have formed substantive partnerships in office with their V.P.s and made efforts to deepen their experience, President Biden and Ms. Harris have been unable to do so or uninterested in bringing about a similar transformation."

WHERE DID THE MONEY GO? — " Richer people left San Francisco in the pandemic. And they took billions of dollars with them ," by the San Francisco Chronicle's Roland Li and Suzie Nelson: "Residents who left made an average of about $138,000 per year in 2019, up 67% from the prior year, when departing residents had an average annual income of around $82,000. San Francisco's net out-migration, the number of people who moved out minus the number of people who moved in, nearly tripled in one year."

CAMPAIGN MODE

— " Bay Area billionaires toss bags of cash at 2 Republicans you've barely heard of ," by the SFGate's Alex Shultz: "On April 25, Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., confirmed to Politico that he'll seek the chairmanship position of the powerful House Financial Services Committee should Republicans take back Congress in November. Almost immediately after making his party leadership desires known, large donations to his re-election campaign flooded in, and from a peculiar place: the Bay Area."

STEP INSIDE THE WEST WING: What's really happening in West Wing offices? Find out who's up, who's down, and who really has the president's ear in our West Wing Playbook newsletter, the insider's guide to the Biden White House and Cabinet. For buzzy nuggets and details that you won't find anywhere else, subscribe today .

CALIFORNIA AND THE CAPITOL CORRIDOR

TRAVEL SEASON: Lawmakers and interest group representatives are headed to Montreal and Maine this week to learn about recycling for the latest voyage convened and funded by the California Foundation on the Environment and the Economy, an organization whose board is a cross-section of Sacramento players. Sens. Ben Allen, Susan Eggman, Nancy Skinner and Bob Wieckowski; Assembly member Heath Flora; and Treasurer Fiona Ma are set to participate along with officials from waste management companies, Google, the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, the American Forest and Paper Association and others.

GIVE IT UP FOR YEAR TWO — " 'It's sort of like we're back to 2020': L.A. dining scene braces for possible indoor masking return ," by the Los Angeles Times' Stephanie Breijo: "But in an encouraging development, fresh figures are showing a slight flattening in new infections and hospitalizations. Nonetheless, the dining industry remained on edge."

UNITE…? — " Will California Legislature allow its workers to unionize? " by CalMatters' Dan Walters: "California's Democratic politicians bend over backwards to help their union allies recruit and retain dues-paying members but so far have killed efforts to allow legislative employees to join a union."

— " Plummeting stocks and a Moscow shopping mall. CalPERS is stuck with its Russia investments ," by the Sacramento Bee's Wes Venteicher: "Russia shut down its stock market Feb. 25, the day after it invaded, making it impossible for international investors to sell public equities there."

— " California prison guard pleads guilty to four felonies in cover-up at facility near Sacramento ," by the Sacramento Bee's Sam Stanton: "Arturo Pacheco, 40, pleaded guilty to two counts of deprivation of rights under color of law and two counts of falsifying records before Senior U.S. District Judge William B. Shubb in Sacramento federal court."

CROSSING THE FINANCIAL BORDER — " How the Path to Homeownership Runs Through Mexico ," by the New York Times' Debra Kamin: "San Diego residents are moving to Tijuana to get more for their money. Some hope to save for down payments on houses that are way out of reach north of the border."

— " L.A. County coronavirus weekly death rate 70% higher than in Bay Area: Why so much worse? " by the Los Angeles Times' Rong-Gong Lin II and Luke Money: "The two regions' death rates had been more close to each other through parts of June. But something changed in July, and there was a dramatic rise in L.A. County's death rate not matched by that in the Bay Area."

RIGHTS OF REPORTING — " Will laws requiring California doctors to report abuse put out-of-state abortion patients at risk? Here's what we know ," by the San Francisco Chronicle's Sophia Bollag: "California does not require physicians who perform abortions to report them to the state. It does require doctors to report suspected abuse of minor patients to either local law enforcement or child welfare agencies."

A message from CVS Health:

BIDEN, HARRIS AND THE HILL

— Harris plots her next, more aggressive, volley in the abortion fights , by POLITICO's Eugene Daniels: The events reflect the vice president's expanding work on abortion policy since the Supreme Court's decision to strike down Roe v. Wade. And, if executed, they would mark an aggressive push by the second highest Democrat in the land to get involved in races often overlooked by the national party.

— " Sen. Padilla got $250 million in local projects for CA. Job well done or pushing pork? " by the Sacramento Bee's David Lightman: "Earmarks were banned in 2011 after a series of scandals, but returned last year. Lawmakers saw them as not only tapping into their local expertise, but just as important, they were a way of building the sort of bipartisan coalitions needed to pass big money bills."

— " Growing number in GOP back Pelosi on possible Taiwan trip ," by the Associated Press' Seung Min Kim and Matthew Lee: "Pelosi's supporters include a conservative Republican senator, at least two former Trump administration officials and the last speaker of the House to make the trip to Taiwan, also a Republican. They are urging Biden to back the trip even as China threatens a forceful response if she goes."

SILICON VALLEYLAND

— " San Francisco Races Clock for Comeback With Tech Gloom Deepening ," by Bloomberg's Romy Varghese: "The city is embarking on its most ambitious push yet to revive its downtown, with initiatives such as hiring so-called ambassadors to welcome commuters and visitors, along with tapping vacant commercial space and public areas for recurring events, markets and festivals to lure them."

— " The Supreme Court weakened a unique California labor law. Will this case against Uber bring it back? " by the San Francisco Chronicle's Bob Egelko: "Until recently, PAGA allowed workers to sidestep increasingly common provisions in their employment contracts requiring all disputes to be heard individually by private arbitrators rather than in court."

INTRODUCING POWER SWITCH: The energy landscape is profoundly transforming. Power Switch is a daily newsletter that unlocks the most important stories driving the energy sector and the political forces shaping critical decisions about your energy future, from production to storage, distribution to consumption. Don't miss out on Power Switch, your guide to the politics of energy transformation in America and around the world. SUBSCRIBE TODAY .

HOLLYWOODLAND

— " Jason Momoa involved in head-on crash with motorcyclist in California ," by Yahoo News' Lorraine Taylor: "The "Aquaman" and "Game of Thrones" actor was driving along Old Topanga Road in Calabasas, California, just before 11 a.m. on Sunday when a 21-year-old man on a motorcycle crossed the center line and smashed head-on into his 1970 Oldsmobile."

MIXTAPE

— " Abortion laws, anti-LGBT rhetoric could drive students away from Texas colleges ," by the Dallas Morning News' Valeria Olivares and Athena Tseng.

KEEPING A LANGUAGE ALIVE — " The Last Cantonese Lecturer at SF City College: This Language 'Won't Go Extinct' ," by the San Francisco Standard's Han Li.

— " Man dies, woman hurt after falling down California waterfall ," by the Associated Press.

IN MEMORIAM

— " Paul Sorvino, Actor in 'Goodfellas' and 'That Championship Season,' Dies at 83 ," by Hollywood Reporter's Mike Barnes.

BIRTHDAYS

Barry Munitz … Lesli Linka Glatter … Lia Seremetis … Sam Schabacker

A message from CVS Health:

At CVS Health, we're more than 300,000 caring employees ensuring Californians and millions of Americans can access health care services.

We have been offering COVID-19 vaccines at more than 9,600 CVS Pharmacy locations nationwide.

Nothing should stand in the way of mental health and well-being, so we have been increasing remote access to mental health services.

We have been supporting safer pregnancies and expanding access to prenatal and postpartum care via telemedicine.

Recognizing the strong connection between housing and health, we have been investing in affordable housing to support underserved populations and build healthier communities.

Every day, CVS Health works to bring quality, affordable health care into neighborhoods, homes and hands—so it's never out of reach for anyone.

Healthier Happens Together.

Learn more.

CALIFORNIA POLICY IS ALWAYS CHANGING: Know your next move. From Sacramento to Silicon Valley, POLITICO California Pro provides policy professionals with the in-depth reporting and tools they need to get ahead of policy trends and political developments shaping the Golden State. To learn more about the exclusive insight and analysis this subscriber-only service offers, click here .

Want to make an impact? POLITICO California has a variety of solutions available for partners looking to reach and activate the most influential people in the Golden State. Have a petition you want signed? A cause you're promoting? Seeking to increase brand awareness amongst this key audience? Share your message with our influential readers to foster engagement and drive action. Contact Jesse Shapiro to find out how: jshapiro@politico.com.

Follow us on Twitter