CAL MATTERS: Unfunded or undone: A Trump presidency eyes California policies

By Cal Matters:

As a state bluer than Lake Tahoe in sunlight, California has adopted a slew of progressive policies that drive Donald Trump nuts. They combat climate change, protect undocumented immigrants, evangelize for Obamacare and more.

So this week—as candidate Trump morphed into President-elect Trump—uncertainty swept the state. While protesters hit the streets and the hashtag #Calexit spiked with residents semi-seriously advocating U.S. secession, policy-makers scrambled to identify state programs at risk in the coming Trump administration.

The Legislature’s top leaders, both Democrats, issued a rare joint statement promising to “maximize the time during the presidential transition to defend our accomplishments using every tool at our disposal.”

“We will be reaching out to federal, state and local officials to evaluate how a Trump presidency will potentially impact federal funding of ongoing state programs, job-creating investments reliant on foreign trade, and federal enforcement of laws affecting the rights of people living in our state,” said Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de Leon of Los Angeles and Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon of Paramount.

The politically savvy were warning not to expect any special favors from the President-elect, given this reception by California. Although some Californians cheered him as an overdue antidote to what they see as their state’s foolhardy liberal excesses, voters statewide rejected Trump by a 28-point spread—only Hawaii and Vermont gave him a colder shoulder.

In California, Democrats control the statehouse—powerful Republican politicians are about as endangered a species as the Delta smelt. But with Republicans poised to take control of everything in Washington, here’s a look at policies that experts say are in jeopardy of being unfunded, undercut or utterly undone:

The environment:

There may be no greater point of departure from the policies of a Trump administration than California’s leading-edge environmental programs. On Thursday, Gov. Jerry Brown issued a statement noting the country’s deep divisions. “In California, we will do our part to find common ground whenever possible,” he said. “But as Californians, we will also stay true to our basic principles. We will protect the precious rights of our people and continue to confront the existential threat of our time—devastating climate change.”

By way of contrast, candidate Trump tweeted and often repeated his view that climate change is a hoax invented by China.

But could President Trump reach into California and unspool many of the state’s signature climate policies?

“The overwhelming majority of our climate programs are rooted in state law,” said Annie Notthoff, the director of California advocacy for the Natural Resources Defense Council. “The California public, time and time again, has supported state action on climate. More than 60 percent of voters are willing to pay more for clean energy. You have a very willing public and strong laws.”

Trump has reportedly tapped Myron Ebell, a well-known climate skeptic, to lead his Environmental Protection Agency transition team. The agency has a broad portfolio: overseeing federal air and water laws, regulating toxic substances and setting national emissions standards for automobiles and industry. As such, it is frequently in the crosshairs of business interests and Republicans in Congress who perceive it as an overlord issuing onerous regulations.

When California attempted to exercise special authority to regulate tailpipe emissions, it initially tried and failed to get a waiver from the federal EPA to do so under the Bush administration in 2005. Only after President Obama’s election and intervention in the process in 2009 did the EPA grant California its waiver. That episode underscores the fed authority to override state intentions.

It would be a “nightmare scenario” if the Trump administration imposed national rules to overrule state climate policies, said Ethan Elkind, director of the Climate Program at UC Berkeley School of Law. “Congress could preempt most of California’s climate agenda if they had the political support to do that,” he said. “Once the federal government takes an action on an issue, they could preempt the field.”

Apart from the feds, the governor seems determined to forge his own path for California—undertaking independent agreements with others states and nations to form carbon trading markets and agree to emissions limits.

The federal government also plays a significant role in water policy in California, paying for some projects and signing off on others.

Case in point: According to an economic analysis commissioned by the state, California’s water fix in the Delta is dependent on federal help. Gov. Jerry Brown’s plan to build 40-foot wide tunnels to ferry water from the Sacramento River to serve cities and farms to the south is only viable with $4 billion in funding from Washington, the report found.

Even as multiple state agencies mobilized to address the prolonged drought, candidate Trump told an audience in Fresno earlier this year that, “There is no drought.” He blamed state officials for cutting off water to farmers to benefit endangered fish, and vowed to let more water flow to farmers, without specifying how. “We’re going to solve your water problem,” he said. “You have a water problem that is so insane. It is so ridiculous where they’re taking the water and shoving it out to sea.

Speaking of the sea, California—which ranks third among oil-producing states—has not yet fully exploited its federal territory more than three miles offshore. Those troves of oil and gas have not been leased for years, thanks to Congressional and presidential moratoria and a lack of industry interest. That could change under a Trump-appointed Interior Secretary who could order federal agencies here to open more land on and offshore for energy prospecting. Among the names being floated for the post: former GOP Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, who has summed up her energy approach in three words: “Drill, baby, drill.”

On the clean energy front, California has been at the forefront in both renewable energy production and clean energy innovation. Both emerging sectors have been incubated by billions in federal tax incentives and research grants that could evaporate at any time.

The state’s push to decarbonize the energy grid and electrify transportation is supported in part by tax credits and rebates that are entirely discretionary. While the solar energy industry is robust and enjoys a wide market, other programs are less able to wean off federal assistance.

“A lot of our efforts in California are supported by the federal government. Our electric car goals are supported by federal tax credits and funding, as is the electric vehicle charging infrastructure, the battery storage technology…” Elkind said. “Federal support makes it cheaper for us to meet the carbon reduction goals we have in California, which are in danger if we see a retrenching in policy.”

Continue reading at Cal Matters.