The Californians will decide next month whether to oust Governor Gavin Newsom (D) in a recall vote that could spark sweeping changes in the country’s strongest government-led policy on climate change.
A total of 46 candidates are running to replace Newsom, whose government has faced a relentless string of disasters amid one of the worst droughts in history and a deadly pandemic.
Top Republicans in the race include a conservative radio talk show host and a multimillionaire businessman battling a Kodiak bear. GOP candidates support the construction of nuclear power plants, more dams to store water and the thinning of forests to reduce the risk of forest fires. At the very least, Newsom’s plan to ban sales of new gasoline cars after 2035 would be delayed.
Climate change is not an issue eagerly embraced by Republican candidates. But her few statements make it clear that the state under Newsom, which describes rising temperatures as an “existential threat”, could deviate significantly from its policies.
“[Newsom’s] surrounded by an army of radicals for whom climate change is a religion – and growth and development a villain, “says Republican nominee Larry Elder, the radio host, on his campaign website.
“Because of their radical environmental awareness, they are opposed to building the infrastructure necessary to provide constant energy and water to a population of 40 million people.
Elder conducts polls of potential voters who support the recall. He is followed by John Cox, whom Newsom easily defeated in 2018, and former San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer. Further down are State Representative Kevin Kiley and several other GOP lawmakers. Celebrity Caitlyn Jenner, also Republican, got low poll numbers.
YouTuber Kevin Paffrath ranks on the ballot in polls among the Democrats. No known Democrats in office are challenging the governor.
Polls suggest the race is close. Although the number of Democratic voters outnumber Republicans in California by nearly 2 to 1, Republicans are expected to appear in greater numbers on Election Day. But there are factors that make election predictions difficult.
For example, 23.3% of registered voters describe themselves as “no party preference” or as independents. And because of the pandemic, the foreign minister authorized voting slips to be sent to all voters. That could offset the Republican turnout.
The ballot asked voters only two questions: do they want to remove Newsom, and if so, who should replace it? A simple majority is required to remove the governor. In this case, the candidate with the most votes will succeed Newsom. This applies even if he receives well below half of the votes. Should Newsom be recalled, his successor will run for re-election next November.
Cox, the only leading Republican candidate to agree to an interview with E&E News, said he accepted climate change as a fact.
“The climate is changing. I think humans have an impact,” said Cox. “I don’t think it’s all a catastrophe either. … There are some beneficial aspects of climate change. “
He added that “it appears that cold weather kills a lot more people than hot weather,” and “some areas that previously lacked agricultural capacity may now have them.”
As Mayor of San Diego, Faulconer supported a 2015 climate protection plan that was drawn up by his predecessor, then Interim Mayor Todd Gloria, a Democrat. (Gloria is now the city’s elected mayor.) In an interview with E&E News at the time, Faulconer said he was not looking at climate change “through a biased lens” (Climatewire, April 7, 2017).
Faulconer doesn’t mention climate change on its current campaign website. However, in a section on electricity, he said that as governor, he “will unleash California’s technological power and entrepreneurship to make us more energy independent and create middle class jobs while we build and sell the clean energy of tomorrow.”
Newsom is roughly 2 and a half years in his first term. He has backed some of the country’s most aggressive measures to combat climate change, including an order to phase out gasoline-powered vehicles. He also called for a study on whether the state could be carbon neutral by 2035. That’s 10 years ahead of the current California goals.
Newsom’s campaign officer did not respond to numerous requests for comment as to whether he would like to use climate change or other green issues to motivate his supporters.
I don’t believe in “climate change alarmism”
During an interview with the Sacramento Bee editorial team, Elder was asked if climate change is playing a role in the worsening wildfires in California.
“That is a factor,” Elder said. “What I said is that I believe in climate change. I believe our climate is getting warmer, and I believe human activity has something to do with it.
“What I don’t believe in is climate change alarmism,” he added. “I don’t think how [Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.)] does. I think she said two years ago that if we don’t take dramatic action, we will all die. That’s a paraphrase, but she said something about it. I think that’s outrageous. I think we are smart enough to deal with the effects of climate change. And when the water rises, we can deal with the effects. “
Cox and Faulconer both mentioned the need to increase forest thinning to prevent forest fires.
“Forest management has to be a big factor here, and I think it was deficient,” Cox said in an interview with E&E News. He wants “to remove a lot more dead trees. The estimates I’ve seen are 100 million or more. Much more effort has to be made, mandatory burns and cease-fires.”
He said this would help revitalize the state’s lumber and timber industries, which he believes have been marred by environmental regulations, including those protecting endangered species.
Cox also wants “overwhelming force” to respond to forest fires. “I’m talking about dozens of planes, maybe even 100. … The moment you see a cloud of smoke, you send plane after plane after plane, laden with water.”
Faulconer said on his campaign page that he will “declare a fire emergency on day one as governor” and use emergency powers “to speed up the clearing of dead trees and vegetation while streamlining the environmental review process.”
He also said he would create a new California Department of Wildfire Prevention.
“We will streamline our approach with a department to coordinate and direct all federal forest fire prevention efforts with federal and local governments,” said Faulconer. He added that he would “blame utility companies for forest fires while increasing forest management to prevent fires from even starting.”
Undoing the gas car exit
Cox said he will make several changes to Newsom’s proposed guidelines. This includes the governor’s first mandate banning the sale of new gas vehicles after 2035. Cox, who drives a Tesla Model S, said he supports electric vehicles but not Newsom’s 2035 deadline.
He said he would put that back many years.
“By 2035 is just not realistic,” said Cox. “We don’t have the power generation to power our air conditioners on hot days. I don’t know how we’re going to generate enough electricity to be 25. to supply [million] or 30 million cars. ”
Cox didn’t give a specific year for the transition to electric vehicles. But when speaking of his support for oil drilling in the state, he said, “We have to move away from gasoline engines. I’m for it, but for the next 15-20 years we will” “We probably won’t. In the meantime we will.” we need gasoline, there are millions of people who own gasoline-powered cars … and we’re going to need oil to get that gasoline. “
Cox said California’s green policies make life in the state too costly and that “the middle class is only being pushed into poverty” and “energy production is a major issue”.
Cox said he is against the proposed shutdown of California’s last nuclear power plant, Diablo Canyon in San Luis Obispo County, which is expected to close in 2025.
Regarding methane, a powerful greenhouse gas, he said, “We need to make sure we mitigate this risk, and we’re doing a good job of making sure we don’t have methane leaks.”
He wants California to promote liquefied natural gas and export it to China and India because coal burns there, and says, “We’d make a lot of money ourselves. … We could tax it, we could create jobs.”
The radio presenter Elder also wants to increase the use of nuclear power. During the interview with the Sacramento Bee, Elder was asked what, if anything, he would do to change California’s climate policies and greenhouse gas reduction goals.
“One of the problems is that we demonize nuclear weapons,” Elder said. “We only have one nuclear power plant.”
He said he was against closing Diablo Canyon.
“I should advocate building nuclear power plants,” he said. “They burn clean. You are safer than before. And I think there are compromises in everything. And I also think that we haven’t invested in … real infrastructure for water and energy in something like this 40 years when the state made up almost half of the population. “
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