As the U.S. Senate inches closer to passing federal climate change legislation, Gov. Gavin Newsom is making a last-minute push to pass meaningful climate change legislation for California before the state legislative session ends at the end of August.
"The governor dropped by the caucuses of both Assembly and Senate Democrats, which is not something that usually happens," said Jeremy B. White, California politics reporter for Politico. "I am told he mentioned a number of broad policy goals on the climate space that he would like to see the legislature tackle."
White joined Midday Edition to talk about what may be included in any legislation, as well as the likelihood of major legislation passing at this stage in the legislative process.
"It's not unprecedented to see new legislation pop up in the last weeks of the session. That said, I do think introducing a big knockdown fight over a very ambitious goal like getting to carbon neutrality by 2045, advancing that type of legislation often requires months of negotiations. If it were to be revived, it would certainly be a narrow time frame to make that happen," White said.
