Power politics in the Golden State- POLITICO

DIABLO IN THE DETAILS: The future of California’s last operating nuclear power plant is melting down climate talks at the end of the legislative session.

Gov. Gavin Newsom is asking the Legislature to help extend its life beyond 2025 as the state tries to avoid rolling power outages as it contends with extreme heat and drought. But the governor is facing opposition from some environmentalists and Assembly Democrats who are circulating an alternative proposal to instead spend the money on transmission lines and renewable energy.

The California Senate is also working hard on a deal: state Sen. John Laird (D-Santa Cruz), whose district includes the Diablo Canyon Power Plant, said in an interview today he still has questions about repercussions of the proposed extension — especially whether it would hamper development of offshore wind in the area. But he said the governor and Senate leadership seem eager to address his concerns and win his support.

The nuclear question is gripping the state Capitol amid talks about over $13 billion in energy and climate funding. The future of Diablo Canyon will most likely be tied up with the fate of Newsom’s other climate requests to the Legislature, some of which are already advancing and others that could get introduced this week.

The Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant produces nearly 10 percent of the state’s electricity, but was scheduled to close amid concerns about nuclear waste and seismic safety.

Now, debate rages over whether the state can cope without it. The state’s energy agency projects that there may not be enough solar, wind and other renewable energy to make up for the loss of Diablo Canyon in 2025, especially in late summer when extreme heat and wildfires strain the grid.

But some environmental and anti-nuclear groups have long been concerned about safety at the plant. Today on the steps of the Capitol, environmental advocates made their case for scrapping the Diablo Canyon extension, calling on the Legislature to “go big on climate” and pass the governor’s proposal without it.

“We can have a future of clean energy, with wind and solar, rather than relying on dirty fossil fuels or aging nuclear,” said Jenn Engstrom, the state director of the California Public Interest Research Group.

Newsom is meeting with environmental and labor groups this afternoon on the climate and energy package, his spokesperson Daniel Villaseñor said. The attendee list includes the California State Association of Electrical Workers, the Sierra Club and the Center on Race, Poverty & the Environment.

Some lawmakers have been asking whether Newsom might be better off calling a special session to continue the negotiations past Aug. 31.

But Villaseñor said the governor wants to get it all done by next week because there’s another looming deadline: Pacific Gas & Electric has until Sept. 6 to apply for federal funding to keep the plant open.

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TWITTER WAR: Twitter deceived regulators about deficiencies in its security against cyberattacks, the company’s former security chief has newly alleged. Peiter Zatko said as much in a sweeping whistleblower complaint to the Justice Department and other federal agencies, POLITICO’s Rebecca Kern reported. Zatko also accused the company of not doing enough to fight spam, and said he flagged security vulnerabilities to Twitter’s board in documents published by CNN and The Washington Post. The accusations could prompt action from Congress and could jeopardize the company’s legal fight with Elon Musk.

ABORTION INITIATIVE: The campaign to enshrine abortion rights in California’s constitution just got its biggest cash infusion to date. Planned Parenthood’s Los Angeles affiliate has kicked in $500,000 to the campaign, the largest sum dedicated to the Prop 1 ballot initiative, according to a report filed today. Prop 1 to this point has pulled far less in fundraising than more controversial ballot initiatives, including two dueling measures over sports betting that have together drawn hundreds of millions of dollars. The abortion initiative, meanwhile, pulled in less than $400,000 from January to June. That could reflect perceptions that the measure will pass easily in a decisively pro-abortion state where no spending in opposition to the measure has been reported.

ASU IN CA: One of the world’s largest universities sank $92,000 into lobbying in the California statehouse between April and June — and it wasn’t California State or University of California. It was Arizona State University, the 136,000-student institution based just outside Phoenix. But why?

ASU is expanding its reach into California, most recently opening a satellite campus in Los Angeles in an attempt to attract Golden State students who are rejected by four-year schools that are close to home. But there’s a hitch: Students who attend the new LA campus can’t access federal financial aid like Pell Grants. Federal law leaves it up to states to authorize schools for financial aid, but California’s regulator of private colleges hasn’t been given the power to extend financial aid to students at public universities that operate in California, like ASU. To open financial aid access, ASU is backing California state Sen. Richard D. Roth’s (D-Riverside) SB 1433, which would clear the way for the regulator to authorize ASU, and in turn, for students at the Los Angeles campus to get assistance from the feds.  

ZOMBIE BILL: Newsom’s late request for a big climate and energy package has brought a climate bill back from the dead. The California Senate will again hear Asssemblymember Al Murasutchi (D-Torrance)’s proposal to codify into law the goal of getting the state to be carbon neutral by 2045. AB 1395 passed the Assembly last year but failed on the Senate floor. Newsom specified in his appeal to the Legislature that he wanted to see a law on carbon neutrality by 2045. The bill’s movement is only one piece of a complex deal, though, and negotiations continue. — Camille von Kaenel

“New California policy protects healthcare benefits for young immigrants,” by the Associated Press’ Adam Beam: “California already pays for the healthcare expenses of low-income adults 25 and younger, regardless of their immigration status. A new law scheduled to take effect in January 2024 would extend those benefits to cover all adults who, but for their immigration status, would qualify for the state’s Medicaid program, known as Medi-Cal.”

“But between now and when that new law takes effect in 2024, about 40,000 young adults who already have Medi-Cal face losing their benefits because they will be older than 25. On Monday, the state Department of Health Care Services announced it would continue to cover those young adults through the end of 2023 to make sure they won’t lose their benefits.”

“LA And OC Will Feel Significant Temperature Increases From Climate Change,” by the LAist’s  Julia Paskin and Jessica P. Ogilvie: “Research group First Street Foundation, which developed the extreme heat map, compared the number of very hot days expected in 2023 to the number expected in 2053. Orange County and L.A. County are predicted to experience the worst and the third-worst increases in the state, respectively.”

“Orange County’s hottest days are expected to go up by 214.3% by 2053; L.A. County, by 200%.”

“In O.C., that means the number of days that temperatures reach or exceed 90 degrees will jump from seven to 22.

Compiled by Sakura Cannestra.

— “Paul Pelosi sentenced after pleading guilty to Napa DUI charge,” by the San Francisco Chronicle’s Jordan Parker.

— “Newsom signs bill setting rules for kicking unruly people from public meetings,” by the Associated Press’ Don Thompson.

— “COVID tests at California prison’s linked to ‘potential breach’ of visitors personal data,” by the Sacramento Bee’s Sam Stanton.