Clear to partly cloudy and seasonably cool, but not as cool as last night. .
Clear to partly cloudy and seasonably cool, but not as cool as last night.
Gov. Gavin Newsom, center, poses with lawmakers after signing a package of legislation that accelerates the climate goals of the nation's most populous state at Mare Island in Vallejo, Calif., Friday, Sept. 16, 2022.
Gov. Gavin Newsom, center, flanked by state lawmakers discusses the package of legislation he signed that accelerates the climate goals of the nation's most populous state, at Mare Island in Vallejo, Calif., Friday, Sept. 16, 2022.
With a solar panels above him and a charging station display in the background Gov. Gavin Newsom discusses the climate legislation he is about at Mare Island in Vallejo, Calif., Friday, Sept. 16, 2022. Newsom signed a package of legislation that accelerates the climate goals of the nation's most populous state.
Gov. Gavin Newsom, left, hands the climate change bill to the author, Assemblyman Robert Rivas, D-Hollister, right, during a signing ceremony at Mare Island, in Vallejo, Calif., Friday, Sept. 16, 2022. Riva's bill was among the package of legislation that Newsom signed that accelerates the climate goals of the nation's most populous state.
Gov. Gavin Newsom, right, poses for a photo with state Sen. Lena Gonzalez, D-Long Beach and her son, Luca Carrillo, 7, after he signed her climate change bill at a signing ceremony at Mare Island in Vallejo, Calif., Friday, Sept. 16, 2022. Gonzalez's bill was among package of legislation that Newsom signed that accelerates the climate goals of the nation's most populous state.
Gov. Gavin Newsom, center, poses with lawmakers after signing a package of legislation that accelerates the climate goals of the nation's most populous state at Mare Island in Vallejo, Calif., Friday, Sept. 16, 2022.
Gov. Gavin Newsom, center, flanked by state lawmakers discusses the package of legislation he signed that accelerates the climate goals of the nation's most populous state, at Mare Island in Vallejo, Calif., Friday, Sept. 16, 2022.
With a solar panels above him and a charging station display in the background Gov. Gavin Newsom discusses the climate legislation he is about at Mare Island in Vallejo, Calif., Friday, Sept. 16, 2022. Newsom signed a package of legislation that accelerates the climate goals of the nation's most populous state.
Gov. Gavin Newsom, left, hands the climate change bill to the author, Assemblyman Robert Rivas, D-Hollister, right, during a signing ceremony at Mare Island, in Vallejo, Calif., Friday, Sept. 16, 2022. Riva's bill was among the package of legislation that Newsom signed that accelerates the climate goals of the nation's most populous state.
Gov. Gavin Newsom, right, poses for a photo with state Sen. Lena Gonzalez, D-Long Beach and her son, Luca Carrillo, 7, after he signed her climate change bill at a signing ceremony at Mare Island in Vallejo, Calif., Friday, Sept. 16, 2022. Gonzalez's bill was among package of legislation that Newsom signed that accelerates the climate goals of the nation's most populous state.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a sweeping package of bills Friday to expand California's reliance on clean energy and reduce carbon emissions, moves he said further establish the state as a global climate leader.
The new laws include proposals aimed at reducing exposure to gas and oil pollution in communities of color, expanding clean energy jobs and accelerating the state's timeline for getting most of its electricity from renewable energy sources. Newsom signed them following a record-breaking heat wave that forced California to rely more heavily on natural gas for its electricity production.
“We could talk about the way the world should be and protest it,” Newsom said while standing underneath an array of solar panels. “Or we can actually make demonstrable progress.”
State Sen. Lena Gonzalez, a Democrat, was an author of one bill aimed at protecting vulnerable communities from pollution coming from oil and gas production sites. It bans the drilling of any new oil and gas wells with 3,200 feet (975 meters) of homes, schools and other neighborhood sites and requires wells in those zones to enact stricter safety measures. Neighborhood oil drilling is prominent around Los Angeles and oil-rich parts of the Central Valley.
“The reason why we do this, first and foremost, is because some of us are parents,” said Gonzalez, who represents the southern part of Los Angeles County.
Another bill Newsom signed requires California to reach carbon neutrality by 2045, meaning it will remove as much carbon from the atmosphere as what it emits.
The state's accelerated carbon reduction targets are a “big win for California," Kassie Siegel, of the Center for Biological Diversity Action Fund, said in a statement.
The oil industry has broadly criticized Newsom's climate package, saying it will harm an industry that still provides many jobs throughout the state. California is the seventh-largest oil producing state.
Some environmental groups were critical as well, though for different reasons. Food and Water Watch California, a nonprofit aimed at addressing climate and water issues, opposed a bill in the package that creates a permitting system for carbon capture projects. Such efforts rely on technology to remove carbon from the atmosphere to store underground.
Critics of the technology say it's dangerous, unproven and a means for oil companies to keep emitting.
“Carbon capture is a smokescreen for fossil fuel industry players to protect their bottom lines at the expense of our climate and communities," Food and Water Watch California Director Chirag G. Bhakta said in a statement.
Newsom, a Democrat, also took the opportunity to swipe at Republican political leaders in Texas. He compared California’s energy production to that of Texas, another major producer, where a winter storm in February 2021 left millions without power.
“And they’re talking to us about keeping our lights on?” Newsom said of Texas.
Sophie Austin is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow her on Twitter at https://twitter.com/sophieadanna.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
If you know of local business openings or closings, please notify us here.
- The Cadillac Pub opens where Klingers used to be at 24 E. Main Street in Fleetwood
- II-VI Inc. (pronounced "two-six") will become Coherent Corp., taking on the name of a company it recently acquired.
- ABEC, a company that provides services and products to the pharmaceutical industry, with headquarters in Northampton County, will invest in a new disposable-container facility in North Carolina.
- A new Lehigh Valley Martial Arts center will hold a grand opening starting at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 10, with a ribbon-cutting shortly afterward.
- Bethlehem Township's planning commission has approved an Amazon parking lot with 248 spaces at Brodhead and Mowrer roads.
- The Bethlehem Zoning Hearing Board rejected variance requests that would have allowed multifamily homes to go up on the Southside properties at 508-512 Selfridge St.
- Northampton County Council voted 1-8 against a tax break for development of a proposed warehouse at the Dixie Cup building on South 25 Street in Wilson Borough.
- The former Valley Farm Market, now known as Gerrity's Valley Farm Market, will take on a new name as of Oct. 14: Gerrity's The Fresh Grocer.
- Hamsa Exoticz is already open at the Lehigh Valley Mall, but it will hold a grand opening at 5 p.m. Sept. 16 with the Whitehall Chamber of Commerce.
- A new Home Depot will open a 136,048-square-foot building on about 21 acres of vacant land just off Hamilton Boulevard in Lower Macungie Township.
- Rocco Ayvazov's Monocacy General Contracting received approval from the Bethlehem Planning Commission to put up a six-story building with 55 apartments and retail space on the first floor at 128 E. Third St.
- The old Allen Organ showroom building on Route 100 in Lower Macungie Township will come down and about 100 total apartment units will go up.
- Reading Hospitality's Catering by DoubleTree will handle food at events at Reading Country Club, after Exeter Township supervisors approved a new agreement.
- Natural healing is the goal at Reike Balance, which will open Sept. 9. on Reading Avenue in West Reading.
- The Pocono Chamber of Commerce held a grand opening at the Bartonsville branch of Farmhouse Cafe.
- The reopening date for the historic Frenchtown Inn building overlooking the Delaware River in New Jersey remains unclear.
- River Paws, a pet-supply store, is across Race Street from the Frenchtown Pharmacy.
- The planned reopening date of Aug. 13 for Toby's Cup was pushed back after ownership said a dispute about the occupancy of a home on the hot dog stand's property delayed the reopening.
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