Transportation

Over two years after the passage of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, its impacts are still being felt. In December, the Biden administration announced that funding would be released for two California-based rail infrastructure programs: the state-run California High-Speed Rail (CAHSR) system and the privately-owned Brightline West high-speed rail route, each receiving about $3 billion. 

 

The funding provides a welcome, although insufficient, boost to CAHSR’s much-publicized financial woes, given that costs now exceed funding by $10 billion. In addition, California’s population decline means that forecasted ridership for the system is also lower. Unsurprisingly, these facts have inspired some critical commentary.

 

In that context, the high-speed rail authority released some useful information. Since 2006, CAHSR has generated $7 billion in labor income, $18 billion in economic output, and 12,000 jobs, for a total cost of $11.2 billion. 

 

The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law also includes funding for Caltrans: $63.7 million to install, repair, and upgrade more than 1,000 electric vehicle chargers. That money is going to be needed, with an LA Times report published Wednesday finding systemic issues with the state’s charging network. One fact from the article: EV chargers owned by a number of major companies don’t work 20 to 30% of the time. 

 

Water

Recently published research on groundwater data all over the world has bad news for our state. Of the top 100 sites with the most rapidly dropping groundwater levels, six are in California, including four in the San Joaquin Valley. The researchers found a global trend of accelerated groundwater decline in areas of cultivated land and dry climate — sound familiar? Of those six Californian sites, five are in the state’s top 10 agricultural counties, and all six are in the top 15. A positive note, though, is that the researchers point out areas where groundwater decline has been mitigated or reversed due to successful water policies and aquifer recharge projects in places like Tucson.

 

California’s own water policies have come under scrutiny recently. A 2023 framework, “Making Conservation a California Way of Life,” by the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB), outlines new standards for water supply utilities. The framework proposes to penalize water suppliers if their water use is not as efficient as a target set by SWRCB. In other words, the utilities would be penalized for the actions of their consumers, forcing them to offer incentives or penalties of their own to customers to achieve those targets. In early January, the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office released a report criticizing the regulations as unnecessarily complex, difficult to abide by, and costly, especially for low-income water customers. 

 

Energy

On energy, the state has had a mixed record in recent months. Good news first: earlier this week, the Department of Transportation awarded $426.7 million to expand the port of Humboldt Bay, in preparation for the construction of an enormous offshore wind farm. Undoubtedly an exciting project, the very things that make it stand out are also some of its greatest challenges — no existing wind farm in the world is in such deep waters. Other key issues include ecological risks, environmental justice concerns for the region’s Indigenous Yurok tribe, and community engagement. 

 

The worse news was captured in a New York Times article published last week, detailing the impact of a controversial change made by the California Public Utilities Commission last year. Those rules cut the money utilities pay to new customers for generating excess power (mostly through solar, of course) by 75%, while creating new incentives for low-income households to install solar systems. The article reported that installations for rooftop solar dropped by as much as 85% in some months of 2023 after the decision, and cites industry groups’ predictions that installations will drop more than 40% this year.

 

California climate policy is off to a rough start in 2024. While support for climate mitigation continues to grow in California, the policies we see enacted are not commensurate with the demand. Notable achievements have been notched in January, but major challenges loom on the horizon.

 

See you in two weeks :3