California Governor Gavin Newsom is facing a new wave of criticism over his climate policies, not from Republicans, but from a group of Los Angeles progressives. The organization Streets For All has launched a series of newspaper advertisements in Columbia, South Carolina, and Reno, Nevada, both crucial early states in the Democratic presidential nomination process, to highlight their concerns about Newsom's environmental record.
The ads specifically target recent adjustments to California's cap-and-invest program, which limits greenhouse gas emissions and requires polluters to purchase allowances. Streets For All and its allies are particularly angered by a proposal that could offer free allowances to companies investing in carbon emission reductions. They argue this incentive could encourage more pollution and diminish funding for vital climate and energy initiatives, such as the state's high-speed rail project.
An analysis cited by the group suggests these changes could reduce the cap-and-trade fund by as much as $2 billion, a move Streets For All has labeled a "giveaway" to oil companies and polluters. The advertisements frame the issue as one where Californians are "struggling" while billions are diverted from clean drinking water, public transit, and affordable housing into subsidies for refineries.
Newsom's office has defended the changes to the cap-and-invest program as a necessary "balancing act" to protect critical industries from leaving California while still pursuing climate goals. The California Air Resources Board (CARB), an agency appointed by Newsom, has stated that the adjustments are a complex negotiation between environmental objectives and economic realities.
However, pro-climate groups have pointed to a May statement from Newsom's office where he lauded the program's updates as a countermeasure to the pro-oil Trump administration, labeling his current stance as "climate hypocrisy." The governor's administration was contacted for comment regarding the advertisements.
This tension with progressive elements of the Democratic Party on climate policy, as well as other issues like a proposed state billionaire tax, could present a significant challenge for Newsom should he pursue a presidential run in 2028.