Environment

As tens of thousands of low-income Californians struggle to pay their water bills, the Legislature approved a bill offering assistance. But the program has no funding.

A standoff over shutting down ranchers’ pumps signals a flareup of water wars as California is gripped by seemingly endless drought. “To hell with it. We’re starting the pumps,” one Siskiyou County rancher said.

California will revolutionize the car market by ending sales of new gas cars within 12 years, forcing car buyers to switch to electric cars.

Two other states – but not California – face cuts to Colorado River water in 2023 as the federal government escalates its drought response. But a deal remains out of reach.

Warning that the supply will shrink by 10% due to climate change, Newsom sets targets for recycled water and increased storage. But deadlines are distant, details are scant and there is no conservation mandate.

Newsom’s priorities — for the last three weeks of the session — include ramping up targets for greenhouse gas reductions and clean electricity, and creating safety zones around new oil wells.

The state can expedite approval of renewable energy projects but rural counties say they already do their part with solar and wind farms. “We’re in the crosshairs, but we don’t think we are the right target here,” one rural advocate says.

State funding is insufficient so lower-income residents have trouble getting their subsidies. The problems jeopardize California’s climate and air pollution goals as electric car prices keep rising.

The tunnel project, which would cost billions and take decades, aims to help shore up water supplies in much of California. The new environmental impact report outlines the impacts.

California is acting later than many states in regulating neonicotinoids, but its rules would be among the nation’s most extensive. They would change how growers kill pests on nuts, citrus and other fruit crops.