I want to share this opinion about our governor’s accomplishments that I found in the 2022 Report Card of the California Legislative published by the Sierra Club California.  This report also shows how the Sierra Club rates the performance of your local representatives in Sacramento. 

Ed Maurer, Editor & Webmaster

"Newsom’s Perplexing Performance

The Governor’s numerical score never quite tells the whole story of their actions over the year, and this year was no exception.

Of the 16 unique bills we scored, 8 made it to Newsom’s desk. Of these bills, he signed four that we supported, ve- toed two that we supported and signed two that we opposed. Therefore, if we graded him on this alone, he would receive a failing grade of 50%.

For our 17 priority bills that made it to Newsom’s desk this session, he signed seven that we supported and vetoed one that we opposed. He also signed three priority bills that we opposed and vetoed six that we opposed. If we graded him on these, he would receive a 47%.

However, extra credit should be given for a couple reasons.

First - the budget: Newsom’s budget proposed $10 billion for zero emission transportation funding by 2027, and he is on track to deliver on this commitment. Crucially, many of these investments prioritize disadvantaged communities. He also invested $112 million in building decarbonization efforts and promised a total of nearly $1 billion in funding by 2026. Finally, Newsom has committed to deploy 6 mil- lion heat pumps by 2030, and create 7 million climate-ready homes by 2035 within the budget process. Importantly, half of these funds will be allocated to low-income communities of color.

Second - he signed some vital environmental bills: Newsom signed the aforementioned bills establishing health-protective setbacks and ensuring captured carbon cannot be used to extract oil or gas. He also boosted these bills through the legislature by including them in his climate priorities.

That said, we would be remiss if we didn’t mention some of Newsom’s less environmentally friendly actions. The Governor put his thumb on the scale to pass the costly and damaging Diablo Canyon Power Plant Extension, and weighed in early on in the budget process to prop up polluting gas power plants and diesel backup generators. He walked this investment back a bit after significant pushback from Sierra Club California and communities, but in the end, he still directed potentially significant funds towards fossil fuel infrastructure. And in the regulatory arena, his administration continues to push the antiquated Delta tunnel, which will decimate the San Francisco Bay-Delta.

Like every honest teacher would tell you, grading is ultimately subjective. So while Newsom received an objective failing grade by the numbers, we’re using our academic discretion to award the Governor with the lukewarm passing grade of “C.” He deserves some credit for historic, climate-and-community friendly policies and investment, but he has much room for improvement in how he chooses to confront grid reliability without promoting fossil fuels or keeping outdated, nuclear power plants around.

Like every honest teacher would tell you, grading is ultimately subjective. So while Newsom received an objective failing grade by the numbers, we’re using our academic discretion to award the Governor with the lukewarm passing grade of “C.” He deserves some credit for historic, climate-and-community friendly policies and investment, but he has much room for improvement in how he chooses to confront grid reliability without promoting fossil fuels or keeping outdated, nuclear power plants around."