Alejandro Lazo

Social Security and Medicare benefits will keep flowing in a government shutdown, but federal employees will be working without pay and delays likely will occur across many services.

California lawmakers passed a six-bill climate and energy package extending cap and trade to 2045, expanding the state’s wildfire fund, approving new oil drilling, and opening the door to a regional power market.

After weeks of tense and messy negotiations, California’s legislative leaders finally released several proposals that range from expanding domestic crude oil production to lowering electricity rates. But the biggest barrier was the reauthorization of the state’s cap and trade program.

California spent decades building one of the greenest power grids on Earth. It ditched coal, cut fossil fuels, and built so much solar it now runs the world’s second-largest battery fleet to keep clean power flowing after dark.Now lawmakers are poised to tie that grid to coal-burning states.

Clean-energy projects have new deadlines for federal tax credits and limits on foreign parts, taking aim at California’s climate agenda. Eleven major solar projects and one onshore wind project now face potential delays or cancellation.

Major changes to the California Environmental Quality Act include an exemption for high-tech industrial plants and other projects. The move, fast-tracked under pressure from Gov. Gavin Newsom, sparked fierce pushback from environmental, community and labor groups.

No immediate hike in California gas prices will occur but Democrats and Republicans in the Legislature fear the effects of the clean-fuel program.

Proposed legislation hasn’t moved out of the state Assembly or Senate, raising questions about how far California will go in its efforts to make oil and gas companies pay for climate damage.

Trump ordered his attorney general to move against state climate programs that clash with his energy agenda. Legal experts say his claims about the laws being unconstitutional are an overreach.

California and other states and counties are using a legal strategy that took down Big Tobacco, hoping to make fossil fuel companies pay for damage they have long denied. But many obstacles remain.

About a quarter — 25.3% — of all new cars registered in California in 2024 were electric cars, compared with 25% in 2023. The flat sales follow several years of rapid growth, and sales are still far below the state’s 35% target.

Because Trump is unlikely to approve them, California officials say they had no choice but to abandon the state's groundbreaking rules for zero-emission trucks and cleaner locomotives.