The results are in! Xavier Becerra has been elected the next governor of California. From day one after taking office in January, he’ll have an incredibly important task ahead of him: putting California back on track to meet our climate goals while delivering on his promise to make the state a more affordable place to … Read more
On November 3, voters elected Xavier Becerra as governor. Governor-elect Becerra now has the opportunity to make climate action a cornerstone of his efforts to make California more affordable. California needs true climate leadership more than ever. The devastating Los Angeles fires have caused an estimated $250 billion in damages. Electricity rates for California’s main … Read more
Temperature records continue to fall in California. January to June marked the hottest first half of the year in state history, followed by the hottest August on record. From one extreme to another, Southern California is now reeling from Tropical Storm Rachel, which flooded communities from San Diego to Los Angeles and left more than … Read more
Californians just won a major step toward cheaper, cleaner, more reliable electricity. This week, Governor Newsom signed the Clean Local Power Act, SB 913 (Becker), into law. The Climate Center is proud to have co-sponsored this bill. This is what climate action at speed and scale looks like. It didn’t happen by accident. It took … Read more
As I step into my new role leading The Climate Center, I’ve been thinking about how different the conversation is today from when I began my career in climate. I remember when some of the policies we now take for granted felt like enormous uphill battles. And yet, we put them in place. In 2006, … Read more
SACRAMENTO, September 30, 2026 — Today, Governor Newsom signed SB 913, the Clean Local Power Act, into law. Authored by Senator Josh Becker (D-Menlo Park), this bill ensures that the millions of California homes and businesses that already have smart technologies can help make electricity more affordable for everyone. The Climate Center CEO Kat Lockwood … Read more
Bidirectional electric school buses (ESBs) have enormous untapped potential to improve student health, enable community energy resilience during power outages, and build a more reliable grid through vehicle-grid integration. To realize these multiple benefits, California must enact policy to prioritize ESBs to enhance electricity affordability, resilience, and reliability. While the primary purpose of ESBs is … Read more
The 2026 California legislative session came to a close on August 31. During this webinar, climate advocates and Sacramento insiders joined us to explore which proposed climate policies did (and didn’t) become law and why. We discussed the future impact of bills signed into law — including SB 913, SB 905, and SB 868 — … Read more
The 2026 California legislative session came to a close on August 31, and the legislation passed by our representatives is now awaiting Governor Newsom’s signature. As a reminder, The Climate Center crafts, sponsors, and supports bold, ambitious climate legislation in three areas: phasing out polluting fuels, building community energy resilience, and drawing carbon out of … Read more
This event is by invite only. California has led the nation in electric school bus adoption, now home to nearly one-quarter of all electric school buses nationwide. However, without a unified strategy, California could miss opportunities to leverage these buses as grid resources to enhance the affordability, resilience, and reliability of the state’s electrical grid. … Read more
