A bill to set carbon removal targets for California died Thursday as the Legislature’s appropriations committees ran through hundreds of bills before the day’s end deadline to approve measures with significant price tags.
Bills to revise the state’s wildfire risk maps, including one that was backed by Gov. Gavin Newsom, also met their end and several high-profile bills dealing with oil drilling and electric vehicles were amended before moving onto the floors of their respective chambers.
Carbon removal: Sen. Josh Becker’s S.B. 308, which would have required the state to set interim carbon removal targets on the way to 2045 and define what types of removal would qualify, was held in suspense. The Air Resources Board had assigned a $8.2 million cost estimate for the first fiscal year and supporters including carbon removal startups and climate groups hosted a lobbying day Wednesday for the bill.
Becker had been seeking to amend the bill to include labor provisions and set tighter standards for carbon accounting and for the use of biomass waste that would have moved several environmental justice and labor groups closer to support. As of Wednesday night, he was in discussions with the Newsom administration over the governor’s set of amendments that would have simplified the bill and eliminated community engagement provisions and standards that Becker had adopted to get environmental groups on board.
