California
Signature collection begins to repeal California oil well setback law
(The Middle Sq.) – Oil producers introduced Thursday they’ve launched the signature gathering course of to cease a brand new oil nicely invoice, a measure they call a “political battle on California’s vitality employees and producers.”
Impartial oil producers and employees are spearheading an effort to position a referendum on the 2024 poll to repeal a legislation requiring 3,200-foot setbacks between new oil wells and sure areas.
Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Senate Invoice 1137 final month. It prohibits the Geologic Power Administration Division (CalGEM) from approving most permits inside a “well being safety zone” – outlined as 3,200 ft inside a “delicate receptor,” together with houses, colleges, healthcare services, dorms and companies.
The invoice was heralded by supporters as a measure that may shield public well being, as proximity to grease wells and fuel extraction websites “poses identified vital well being dangers resulting from elevated air air pollution and threats to ingesting water high quality,” in response to a invoice evaluation. The invoice’s authors estimate there are 5.5 million Californians who reside inside a mile of a number of oil and fuel wells.
The measure met with swift opposition from the oil business, who filed a proposed referendum simply days after Newsom signed the invoice into legislation. Proponents of the petition say the legislation “threatens to additional enhance California’s already excessive fuel costs” by growing reliance on imported international oil “that contributes larger greenhouse fuel emissions.”
“This referendum will permit California voters to higher management the costs they pay on the pump by eradicating limitations to spice up the provision of our homegrown oil manufacturing,” stated Rock Zierman, chief govt officer of the California Impartial Petroleum Affiliation, which is spearheading this effort.
Zierman added that oil producers have labored with the legislature to “guarantee we now have the strictest environmental rules within the nation and world,” asserting there may be “no scientific justification” for the three,200 ft setback legislation.
“As Governor Newsom has implored us over the previous two years, we should ‘observe the science’ and use evidence-based knowledge when enacting coverage, one thing that SB 1137 fails to do,” Zierman stated.
Proponents of the “Cease the Power Shutdown” petition say they’ve already raised over $8.1 million to help their efforts, however there may be nonetheless a protracted method to go earlier than the measure qualifies for the 2024 poll.
As beforehand reported by The Middle Sq., proponents have 90 days from the statute’s enactment to gather and submit over 623,000 signatures to probably qualify the measure for the 2024 poll, the place it should in the end be left as much as the voters to resolve on the legislation. The invoice was signed into legislation on Sept. 16, so proponents have till mid-December to submit signatures.
Daniel Villaseñor, a spokesperson for the governor’s workplace, advised The Middle Sq. in an announcement, “California gained’t return to the times of letting grasping oil corporations pollute our communities.”
“Large polluters are poisoning our communities, and this legislation guarantees to guard the well being of over 2 million Californians – stopping new oil wells close to colleges and neighborhoods, and requiring air pollution controls on present oil wells,” Villaseñor stated. “The large polluters are attempting to overturn this legislation to guard their billions in income. Clear vitality jobs already outnumber fossil gasoline jobs by 6-to-1, and the local weather package deal that Gov. Newsom simply signed into legislation will create one other 4 million jobs whereas decreasing demand in petroleum by over 90%.”
California
Caitlyn Jenner says she'd 'destroy' Kamala Harris in hypothetical race to be CA gov
SAN FRANCISCO – Caitlyn Jenner, the gold-medal Olympian-turned reality TV personality, is considering another run for Governor of California. This time, she says, if she were to go up against Vice President Kamala Harris, she would “destroy her.”
Jenner, who publicly came out as transgender nearly 10 years ago, made a foray into politics when she ran as a Republican during the recall election that attempted to unseat Gov. Gavin Newsom in 2021. Jenner only received one percent of the vote and was not considered a serious candidate.
Jenner posted this week on social media that she’s having conversations with “many people” and hopes to have an announcement soon about whether she will run.
Caitlyn Jenner speaks at the 4th annual Womens March LA: Women Rising at Pershing Square on January 18, 2020 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Chelsea Guglielmino/Getty Images)
She has also posted in Trumpian-style all caps: “MAKE CA GREAT AGAIN!”
As for VP Harris, she has not indicated any future plans for when she leaves office. However, a recent poll suggests Harris would have a sizable advantage should she decide to run in 2026. At that point, Newsom cannot run again because of term limits.
If Jenner decides to run and wins, it would mark the nation and state’s first transgender governor.
California
Northern California 6-year-old, parents hailed as heroes for saving woman who crashed into canal
LIVE OAK — A six-year-old and her parents are being called heroes by a Northern California community for jumping into a canal to save a 75-year-old woman who drove off the road.
It happened on Larkin Road near Paseo Avenue in the Sutter County community of Live Oak on Monday.
“I just about lost her, but I didn’t,” said Terry Carpenter, husband of the woman who was rescued. “We got more chances.”
Terry said his wife of 33 years, Robin Carpenter, is the love of his life and soulmate. He is grateful he has been granted more time to spend with her after she survived her car crashing off a two-lane road and overturning into a canal.
“She’s doing really well,” Terry said. “No broken bones, praise the Lord.”
It is what some call a miracle that could have had a much different outcome without a family of good Samaritans.
“Her lips were purple,” said Ashley Martin, who helped rescue the woman. “There wasn’t a breath at all. I was scared.”
Martin and her husband, Cyle Johnson, are being hailed heroes by the Live Oak community for jumping into the canal, cutting Robin out of her seat belt and pulling her head above water until first responders arrived.
“She was literally submerged underwater,” Martin said. “She had a back brace on. Apparently, she just had back surgery. So, I grabbed her brace from down below and I flipped her upward just in a quick motion to get her out of that water.”
The couple said the real hero was their six-year-old daughter, Cayleigh Johnson.
“It was scary,” Cayleigh said. “So the car was going like this, and it just went boom, right into the ditch.”
Cayleigh was playing outside and screamed for her parents who were inside the house near the canal.
I spoke with Robin from her hospital bed over the phone who told us she is in a lot of pain but grateful.
“The thing I can remember is I started falling asleep and then I was going over the bump and I went into the ditch and that’s all I remember,” Robin said.
It was a split-second decision for a family who firefighters said helped save a stranger’s life.
“It’s pretty unique that someone would jump in and help somebody that they don’t even know,” said Battalion Chief for Sutter County Fire Richard Epperson.
Robin is hopeful that she will be released from the hospital on Wednesday in time to be home for Thanksgiving.
“She gets Thanksgiving and Christmas now with her family and grandkids,” Martin said.
Terry and Robin are looking forward to eventually meeting the family who helped save Robin’s life. The family expressed the same feelings about meeting the woman they helped when she is out of the hospital.
“I can’t wait for my baby to get home,” Terry said.
California
California may exclude Tesla from EV rebate program
California Gov. Gavin Newsom may exclude Tesla and other automakers from an electric vehicle (EV) rebate program if the incoming Trump administration scraps a federal tax credit for electric car purchases.
Newsom proposed creating a new version of the state’s Clean Vehicle Rebate Program, which was phased out in 2023 after funding more than 594,000 vehicles and saving more than 456 million gallons of fuel, the governor’s office said in a news release on Monday.
“Consumers continue to prove the skeptics wrong – zero-emission vehicles are here to stay,” Newsom said in a statement. “We’re not turning back on a clean transportation future – we’re going to make it more affordable for people to drive vehicles that don’t pollute.”
The proposed rebates would be funded with money from the state’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, which is funded by polluters under the state’s cap-and-trade program, the governor’s office said. Officials did not say how much the program would cost or save consumers.
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They would also include changes to promote innovation and competition in the zero-emission vehicles market – changes that could prevent automakers like Tesla from qualifying for the rebates.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who relocated Tesla’s corporate headquarters from California to Texas in 2021, responded to the possibility of having Tesla EVs left out of the program.
“Even though Tesla is the only company who manufactures their EVs in California! This is insane,” Musk wrote on X, which he also owns.
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Those buying or leasing Tesla vehicles accounted for about 42% of the state’s rebates, The Associated Press reported, citing data from the California Air Resources Board.
Newsom’s office told Fox Business Digital that the proposal is intended to foster market competition, and any potential market cap is subject to negotiation with the state Legislature.
Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
---|---|---|---|---|
TSLA | TESLA INC. | 338.59 | -13.97 | -3.96% |
“Under a potential market cap, and depending on what the cap is, there’s a possibility that Tesla and other automakers could be excluded,” the governor’s office said. “But that’s again subject to negotiations with the legislature.”
Newsom’s office noted that such market caps have been part of rebate programs since George W. Bush’s administration in 2005.
Federal tax credits for EVs are currently worth up to $7,500 for new zero-emission vehicles. President-elect Trump has previously vowed to end the credit.
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California has surpassed 2 million zero-emission vehicles sold, according to the governor’s office. The state, however, could face a $2 billion budget deficit next year, Reuters reported, citing a non-partisan legislative estimate released last week.
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