Climate isn't this Senate energy chair's No. 1 priority - POLITICO

Climate isn’t this Senate energy chair’s No. 1 priority - POLITICO

Climate isn’t this Senate energy chair’s No. 1 priority

Sen. Steven Bradford helps shape California climate policy as chair of the Senate Energy, Utilities and Communications Committee. But climate isn’t his top priority.

A veteran of the Great Recession’s budget strife who’s termed out this year, he’s more concerned with his poorest constituents’ ability to pay their bills, and says he wouldn’t mind cutting climate spending to help them pay for things like hearing aids.

A former public affairs manager for Southern California Edison, he’s cool with natural gas, doesn’t care for rooftop solar and is leery of new grid technologies.

This transcript has been edited for length and clarity.

What are your biggest priorities this year on the committee?

Sensible legislation. I think far too often what we do in the energy space is aspirational — arbitrary dates and arbitrary goals. I want folks to be more centered on what’s really needed and making sure that what we move forward is affordable and reliable.

What are the things that will help at the point where the rubber meets the road?

As a wise man once told me, if Alexander Graham Bell came back today, he wouldn’t recognize the phone nor know how to use it. But if Thomas Edison came back today, he would still recognize the grid, transformers, resistors, all that you need to move electricity. It hasn’t changed that much. And we’ve got legislators who want to make radical changes to something that has worked for over 100 years quite reliably.

What about things like virtual power plants and microgrids?

You just can’t make a radical change to something as important as electricity overnight. I think it’s ill-conceived and risky at best.

What role do you see for hydrogen in the transition?

It needs to be part of the portfolio. Far too often for the last 20, 25 years, we’ve picked winners and losers, and we’ve decided that wind and solar is what’s best. But hydrogen is very reliable.

What are your thoughts on rooftop solar?

I’m glad we adjusted net energy metering. It makes absolutely no sense to pay someone a retail rate for a wholesale commodity. Net energy metering is the biggest farce going.

On another topic, should California be doing anything to insulate itself in case a Republican wins the presidential election?

If [former President Donald] Trump wins the presidential election, we should be doing everything possible to safeguard against the madness that will be forthcoming from a vindictive, petulant, small-minded individual, and that’s my biggest fear. He loves to extract revenge on people and organizations he feels didn’t support him.

Last year Gov. Gavin Newsom proposed some budget cuts to climate programs. A lot of them were restored by the Legislature. When it comes to this year’s deficit, are there climate areas you’re concerned about?

I’m more concerned about making sure that those basic needs are still a priority in California. I remember in 2010, we were cutting Depends and hearing aids for our seniors. I don’t want to see that happening this time around.

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SPEED IT UP: California’s congressional delegation is getting impatient with EPA’s pace in handling the state’s pending Clean Air Act waivers.

A group of lawmakers including Sens. Alex Padilla and Laphonza Butler — along with 24 House representatives — penned a Thursday letter to EPA Administrator Michael Regan urging his agency to allocate more resources towards approving the waivers.

California regulators have a growing list of waivers awaiting EPA decisions that would allow them to impose stricter-than-federal rules for cars, trucks, locomotives and other polluting equipment. Calls for EPA to quickly sort through the waivers have recently taken on more urgency amid growing fears Trump, who withdrew one of California’s waivers, could win a second term.

“Approval of these outstanding requests is critical not only for the health of California residents, but for the ability of other states to adopt these life-saving measures to reduce pollution and address the climate crisis,” the letter reads.

Environmental groups are also doubling down on their lobbying efforts. Pacific Environment, a San Francisco-based nonprofit, last week sent Regan a letter with 1,700 signatures, urging EPA to sign off on a rule to clean up harbor craft like ferries and tug boats. — AN

ENVOY OF FRIENDSHIP: Panda alert! The San Diego Zoo could be getting a pair of giant pandas from China by the end of the summer.

Panda diplomacy has been on the rocks as of late, but things started turning around in November when Chinese President Xi Jinping suggested at APEC that China planned to send new pandas to the U.S. as “envoys of friendship.” The San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance announced yesterday that it has signed an agreement with the China Wildlife Conservation Association and was applying for U.S. Fish and Wildlife permits to receive the bears.

Newsom took the opportunity to draw a parallel to California-China climate diplomacy.

“From securing a safe future for this national treasure to fighting climate change, we’re proud to continue our long history of working together towards shared goals,” he said in a statement. — BB

JO GOES NATIONAL: Jo Gardias, an energy whiz and policy analyst in Sen. Josh Becker’s office, is leaving her job there today. She’s going to work for the American Lung Association, where she’ll try to convince other states to sign onto California’s tailpipe emissions standards and adopt electric vehicles. — WV

— The SEC has dropped Scope 3 emissions disclosure — which is included in California’s new law, although it’s under legal and budget challenges — from its draft climate rules, Reuters reports.

— New research shows CalEnviroScreen, the state’s system to identify disadvantaged neighborhoods eligible for funding, is skewed and leaves out certain vulnerable communities.

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