Five Reads To Catch You Up This Weekend
By Matt Ferner
Golden State Grid launched a month ago with a mission of covering the people who shape energy politics in California—the regulators, the electeds, the lobbyists, the unions, and industry. We think of our work as exposing the power behind the power grid. Here’s what we’ve covered so far:
1. Newsom Can’t Keep Hazardous Waste Spilling Oil Companies In Check. Is This Why?
We examined the employment histories of senior regulators at CalGEM and found that nearly one-third of them had worked in the oil and gas industry, including, the agency’s leader—oil and gas supervisor Uduak-Joe Ntuk, who worked for Chevron before joining the regulatory agency. Read our full investigation here.
2. DeSantis Saved Florida’s Solar Industry. In California, Newsom Prepares To Kick It To The Curb
Pacific Gas and Electric has a proposal in front of state lawmakers that would kneecap the state’s rooftop solar industry. Governor Gavin Newsom has done nothing to oppose it and appears ready to let the industry wither. But, in Florida, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis acted decisively to protect solar in the state. The fact that DeSantis acted more swiftly and decisively than Newsom raises the question of whether one can be a serious Democratic presidential contender and also be outmaneuvered on solar by a Republican presidential frontrunner. Read our full investigation here. Political reporter Ryan Grim summed it up best:
3. On His Way Out The Door, Jim Cooper Gave The Middle Finger To Newsom’s Climate Agenda
Longtime California Assemblyman Jim Cooper is leaving his seat this year to become Sacramento County Sheriff. One of his final acts in the legislature was to use his position as the chair of a powerful state assembly committee to block a key piece of climate legislation from even getting a vote. Cooper killed the bill even though the measure had support from Democratic Party heavy hitters including the California Federation of Teachers, the California Nurses Association, and even the City of Los Angeles, the largest city in the state. Read our full investigation here.
4. Trades Council Features Women On New Website But Not On Their Leadership Board
Any casual browser of Building Trades’ website would come away with the impression that women are at the core of the Trades Council. That women are empowered and in positions of power. Yet, what’s most striking about the website is the contrast between the women on the front page and the images that appear when one clicks on the page listing the organization’s leadership. There are five executive board officers. All of them are men. The all-male leadership is particularly troubling given that the The Trades has long battled issues of harassment and discrimination of women. Read our full investigation here.
Andrew Meredith, who serves as President of the California Building and Construction Trades Council, managed to slog his way through a draft of what ultimately would become the 2022 platform of the California Democratic Party. What he read triggered an epic meltdown. It also revealed a widening rift between the Building Trades and the state’s Democratic Party over California’s energy future. Read our full investigation here.
Thanks for reading. And we’d love to hear from you with tips or story ideas.