As wildfires, heat waves, water scarcity and wildlife threats increase in the West, California’s efforts to address these environmental crises now support Washington, a clear change over the past four years.
Even when former President Donald Trump spent his last days on the sidelines and lamented his election loss, his government continued to reverse the regulations of conserving the environment and the gut climate.
Over the past few weeks, Trump officials have tracked down new drilling rental returns, hacked back protected habitats for the spotted owl, relaxed efficiency standards for showerheads, dropped fines for accidentally killing birds and more. The movements are a legacy of reverence for industry, cheap energy and trade.
Now President Biden is working just as aggressively to reverse the course. The president signed several executive orders last week, including a mandate to rejoin the Paris climate agreement, which would begin to withdraw the actions of his predecessor and bring the country back in line with California’s ambitious environmental and climate agenda.
“There’s a lot to celebrate,” said Jared Blumenfeld, California’s secretary of environmental protection. He helped lead the fight against Trump’s policies and looked forward to a cooperative relationship with the federal government. “This is a wonderful thing for California and the country and the planet.”
While there is undoubtedly change coming, Biden’s early directions go just as far. Some of his demands can be issued with his signature, such as re-entering into the non-binding Paris Agreement to address global warming.
But overthrowing Trump on other issues will require months of administrative review or congressional approval. Even in a Democratic-controlled Congress, major shifts could ensue as a result of the Republican votes needed to avoid a filibuster in the Senate.
In California, state-level regulations blunted much of Trump’s feedback from the environment. When state laws did not provide protection, California often enacted new rules, including pesticide bans and extensive wetland protection. Yet much of Trump’s policies have had a direct impact on the state.
The following are eight changes the new president has begun – or is expected to make soon – that are likely to strengthen environmental protection and climate programs in California.
Increase the efficiency of vehicles: One of Biden’s first executive orders on public health and the environment calls for stricter fuel consumption standards for cars and vans, which are intended to limit pollution from heat.
The Trump administration has not only blocked an Obama-era plan to tighten standards, but also repealed California’s waiver under the Clean Air Act to draw up its own rules on vehicle emissions. California is requesting the authorization back, a request that is likely to be granted. The big question is whether California can get other states to accept its aggressive exemption policy, as in the past.
For the federal government to set the emission standards at California level for the country, it has to go through a long process of rule. However, several car companies have already committed to making cleaner cars – with or without new regulations.
“We need to make sure California has a waiver,” said Blumenfeld, who plans to work with the federal government, first to restore state government authority and then to ensure strict vehicle standards nationwide. “It’s in everyone’s interest to have rules in harmony.”
Put science back into decision-making: Biden’s order on health and the environment includes the revision of a transparency rule that bans the environmental protection agency from using scientific studies with non-public data sources.
The Trump administration has implemented the measure to prevent the use of “secret science” to inform decision-making. Opponents, however, argued that the rule would deter policymakers from evaluating information in important medical research, often giving participants anonymity.
“If you can’t use science to make public health decisions, tie both hands behind your back and blindfold yourself,” Blumenfeld said. He ran the Federal EPA’s Pacific Southwest Office under President Obama before going to work for the state.
Getting rid of the transparency measure can be as easy as enforcing the Congressional Review Act, which enables Congress to repeal recent rules by a simple majority vote. However, some scholars say that the rule is not eligible and can only be eliminated once another rule has been introduced.
Reduce the pump in the delta: Last week, Biden instructed federal agencies to review a list of policies that include pumping operations in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, the center of California’s water supply and an estuary struggling with too little water.
The Trump administration changed the conditions for pumping last year so that more delta water could flow to cities and farms. Environmentalists and fishermen criticized the move because the export of water without exception means lower flow in the estuary, so rivers dried up and wildlife was in the harmful direction, including endangered salmon and smelt.
“It was widely considered that the scientific analysis was deeply flawed,” said Chris Shutes, a director of the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance. The science that has been deployed has been used to get the desired outcome. Getting away from it will be helpful. ”
The forthcoming review by the Biden Administration of the pump conditions, called biological opinions, is likely to result in more restrictions on the pump. However, changing biological opinions can take years. Meanwhile, water managers can only choose to send less water out of the delta.
Stop new oil drilling: The Biden government last week drafted a suspension of new oil and gas wells on federal lands and waters, which many see as a first step in curbing the development of long-term fossil fuels and polluting planetary warming in the industry reduce.
On the contrary, the Trump administration has sought an unparalleled expansion of oil and gas projects, including allowing new drilling rigs off the coast of California. However, a drilling plan for foreign affairs drawn up by Trump officials three years ago has been put forward in court, and none of the California ocean operations have begun. Biden is likely to scrap the plan.
Onshore, California, has opened nearly 2 million new acres of federal land for potential drilling under Trump, mostly in Kern and Monterey. The first rental sales took place last month.
“The new administration can at least interrupt the process of issuing new leases,” said Ted Lamm, senior research fellow at UC Berkeley’s Center for Law, Energy and the Environment, which monitors federal environmental actions. Ultimately, however, Lamm said the government could go much further to curb the development of fossil fuels.
Restore protection in the California desert: The Trump administration announced plans earlier this month to open millions of acres of the Mojave Desert to new energy projects, an unexpected move that many conservationists hope Biden will undo.
The action promotes a tough agreement that sought to balance the habitat for turtles, Joshua trees and other iconic desert flora and fauna with renewable energy projects on federal soil. Opponents of the Trump proposal say the changes mean not only alternative power, but mining and other destructive activities.
“Obviously we need a lot of land for solar and wind resources, but a lot of people who looked at this thought it was done in a hurry,” Lamm said. “It threatens many desert habitats and endangered species that may now be endangered.”
Biden has the option to simply withdraw the proposal.
Collecting endangered species protection: Biden’s instructions to federal agencies include a re-examination of the Endangered Species Act, on which Trump has checked substantial checks. The conditions under which a plant or animal now qualifies for protection and what protection it receives are narrower.
While California has its own rules for endangered species, some animals, such as the gray wolf, move between states, limiting California’s ability to provide guarantees. In October, the Trump administration removed the gray wolf.
“Federal policy is what makes regulation consistent and enables species to cross (safely) boundaries,” said Christina Hazard, co-director of wildlife and natural resources at the National Parks Conservation Association.
The government of Biden may choose to amend specific parts of the Endangered Species Act or rewrite the law more thoroughly, urging conservation groups. Many want to see new protection added to help plants and animals through the changing climate. Both routes require lengthy study and public inquiry.
Tighten logging restrictions in burnt forests: According to Biden’s mandate to federal agencies, the feedback of the National Environmental Policy Act, a constitution that protects natural landscapes from development and other projects, needs to be reconsidered.
Some environmentalists want the government to eliminate a rule added to NEPA last year, which excludes small logging proposals in burned forests from environmental review.
The rule, which applies to plots of up to 5,000 hectares on the property of the Land Management Bureau, is intended to quickly clear dead trees from charred hills, while the trees still have commercial value. But many scientists cite the importance of fallen trees for restoring a forest, especially for returning birds and wildlife. They see Trump’s change as a giveaway for the timber industry.
“To say that a clear five times as much as Golden Gate Park has no environmental impact is ridiculous,” said Chad Hanson, an ecologist and co-founder of the environmental group John Muir Project.
If you need to change the rule, you must complete a new rule process.
Hire a more environmentally friendly staff: Biden has appointed several environmental advocates and climate experts to key positions in Washington, indicating a change from his predecessor, who has often filled jobs with industry leaders.
Veteran regulator Michael Regan, secretary of the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality, has been named head of the EPA, replacing Andrew Wheeler, who has worked as a lobbyist for the fossil fuel industry. Congressman Deb Haaland, DN.M., a member of the Indian group Pueblo of Laguna, was elected to head the Department of Home Affairs, replacing David Bernhardt, an agricultural lobbyist.
Meanwhile, Biden has put Gina McCarthy, EPA administrator under President Obama, at the helm of a new White House office on climate policy. Former Secretary of State John Kerry has been named to the new post of climate envoy.
Blumenfeld, California’s top environmental regulator, said qualified and experienced Washington leadership members will help move quickly to carry out Biden’s agenda and inform government officials working in these offices that the environment and climate are high priorities. is.
‘Imagine that you have lived for the past four years. “Really hard-working civil servants have been held hostage by a captain who really does not care what they do,” Blumenfeld said. “I do not think we can underestimate the damage done. It’s going to take years of undoing. ”
Kurtis Alexander is a staff writer for the San Francisco Chronicle. Email: [email protected] Twitter: @kurtisalexander