Governor Gavin Newsom today signed sweeping reforms to California’s world-leading climate policy that aim to save Californians billions of dollars on energy costs. The Governor’s action comes as the Trump administration continues its efforts to gut decades-old, bipartisan American clean air protections and derail critical climate progress. Newsom joined members of the Legislature, as well as hundreds of labor, business, climate and energy advocates, at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco where he signed the historic legislation.
“This is the most important U.S. climate policy for the foreseeable future,” said Kyle Meng, a professor of economics at UC Santa Barbara’s Bren School and the Climate & Energy Director of the Environmental Markets Lab (emLab).“These bills send a signal that California is doubling down on its climate commitments for the next two decades with a practical approach that meets both climate and affordability goals.”
Meng was the only academic invited to the signing ceremony. His presence at this historic occasion was a tribute to his key role in providing research that has been used to both evaluate the pollution consequences of the program to date and shape policy design moving forward. Earlier this year, he testified to the California State Assembly's budget and utilities committees, strongly urging them to reauthorize the state’s cap-and-trade program, using its revenues to lower electricity prices. “California’s cap-and-trade program remains one of the most ambitious and economically sound climate policies in the world,” Meng told the subcommittee. “Its carbon pricing mechanism drives emissions reductions efficiently, while the revenue it generates provides the state with a unique fiscal opportunity.”
According to Newsom’s office, greenhouse gas emissions in California are down 20% since 2000 – even as the state’s GDP increased 78% in that same time period, during which the state continued to set clean energy records. California was powered by two-thirds clean energy in 2023, the latest year for which data is available – making it the largest economy in the world to achieve this level of clean energy. And for a portion of almost every day this year California has run on 100% clean electricity.
As a result of the new legislation, Newsom announced, millions of Californians will soon start saving billions on their energy costs, while the state also stabilizes its gasoline supply to avert severe price spikes at the pump. "On top of all that,” he said, "we’re doubling down on our best tool to combat Trump’s assaults on clean air – Cap-and-Invest – by making polluters pay for projects that support our most impacted communities.”
Said Meng, “In this era of great economic and environmental uncertainty, California just sent the strongest signal yet that it is committed to a reducing climate pollution for the next two decades with a practical, cost-effective approach."
In above photo, Professor Kyle Meng, (third from left), joins Governor Newsom (center with tie) in Sacramento.
Story by Nicholas Schou