Newsom signs $15bn California climate package

California governor Gavin Newsom (D) yesterday signed $15bn in climate spending including new support for zero-emissions vehicle (ZEV) purchases.

The spending package, which fills out remaining details in the state's 2021-22 budget, includes $3.9bn for ZEV and associated infrastructure, including additional funding for consumer ZEV rebates. The budget will also fund 1,000 school buses, 1,000 transit buses and 1,000 drayage trucks, which move cargo short distances in ports.

Priority funding will go to projects in "disadvantaged communities."

California plans to end by 2035 the in-state sale of new petroleum-fueled, internal-combustion engine vehicles. But electrification of the consumer and service fleets will take significantly more charging and other infrastructure to encourage consumer adoption.

The state's Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) offers some of the incentives to drive those changes. Fuel suppliers incur deficits for selling higher-carbon petroleum fuels that must be offset by acquiring credits from low-carbon fuels, including transportation electricity, delivered in the state. On-road electric vehicle charging generated about 476,000 credits for the program in the first quarter, or about 12pc of all credits generated during the period.

Other funding in the budget includes $1.1bn for sustainable agriculture, $5.2bn for water and drought resilience and $3.7bn to prepare communities for extreme heat and rising sea levels.

By Elliott Blackburn