The third largest state (163,694 sq. miles) California is home to almost 40 million people, making it America’s most populous. It is gorgeous with a scenic diversity hard to match, from beach to mountain, from wine country to redwood forest, from Yosemite to Lake Tahoe.
As the average annual temperature has risen by approximately 2˚F since the early 20th century (the summer of 2024 being the hottest on record) California’s climate change vulnerabilities are as diverse as its landscape — suffering increasing heat, droughts, flooding, sea level rise and ever-more frequent and severe wildfires. Its deserts are some of the hottest and driest, while its higher elevations can experience low temperature and heavy snowfall. In the summer, the North Pacific High and jet stream moves northward, keeping storms north of the state and resulting in dry summers. In the winter, this system moves southward, allowing storms to bring precipitation. Because of its large north-south extent, and several mountain ranges, extreme climate events often affect only a portion of the state.
As America’s most productive agricultural state, the decreased precipitation since 2011 has contributed to near record low levels in the Shasta Reserve and threatened farmland. California has 840 miles of coastland (only bested by Florida and Alaska) with global sea level projected to rise another 1-4 feet by 2100. These events can damage infrastructure, cause road closures, and overwhelm storm drains, not to mention cause salty water to intrude into the Delta through the San Francisco Bay.
Already in 2006, California had set a goal to reduce the state’s greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020 with the Global Warming Solutions Act. In 2016 they committed to a 40% reduction in greenhouse gases below 1990 levels by 2030, and 80% below 1990 levels by 2050. A key element of California’s climate plan has been the state’s cap-and-trade program, which sets a statewide limit on sources responsible for 85% of California’s greenhouse gas emissions, and establishes a price signal needed to drive long-term investment in cleaner fuels and more efficient use of energy.
In September 2018, Governor Jerry Brown accelerated the state’s goals to carbon neutrality by 2045; to negative emissions thereafter; to clean transportation by reducing petroleum use 45% by 2030; to 5 million electric vehicles by 2030; to 100% clean energy by 2045; to double the rate of energy efficiencies in buildings, and to extend and improve the state’s cap-and-trade program (additionally directing the revenues to greenhouse gas reducing programs which benefit disadvantaged communities).In March 2021, the California Energy Commission delivered an initial analysis of that landmark policy and provided a roadmap detailing the way forward.
An offshore wind bill co-sponsored by Environment California sailed through the California state legislature and was signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom in 2021. AB 525 requires state regulators to set a goal for offshore wind development and moves California another step closer to using the wind off its coasts for clean renewable energy. Unfortunately, the Trump administration is moving to kill the leases California has negotiated.
In 2020,Newsom signed an executive order making California the first state to legislate phasing out gas powered cars by 2035. In 2022, the Advanced Clean Cars II regulation was adopted, which laid out a roadmap to meet that goal with incentives, discounts and car-share programs. Also in 2022, the California Air Resources Board released the most recent Scoping Plan for reaching carbon neutrality by 2045. The Plan includes carbon removal targets: 7 million metric tons of carbon dioxide by 2030, and 75 million metric tons by 2045.
Newsom signed two big clean energy bills into law in 2025: SB254 and AB825. As of 2025, California is powered by two-thirds clean energy, making the state the largest economy in the world with that level of clean energy. California ran on 100% clean electricity for some part of the day for almost every day in 2025. Green jobs outnumber fossil fuel jobs seven to one in the state.
Governor Gavin Newsom took early steps in 2019 on climate change but doubled down in September, 2021 when he signed a $15 billion climate package, the largest such investment in state history, which included investments in drought response, forest management and climate risk mitigation.
Governor Gavin Newsom is a founding member of the United States Climate Alliance, along with the governors of New York and Washington. The U.S. Climate Alliance is made up of 24 states and territories working to implement policies that advance the goals of the Paris Agreement. Read the USCA Fact Sheet for California here, and a list of statutory and executive policies on climate change in the state here. California developed a Priority Climate Action Plan under the EPA’s Climate Pollution Reduction Grants program in 2024.
After California honed the tactic of fighting anti-climate policies with legal challenges in Trump’s first term, Gavin Newsom allocated $50 million to funding legal costs of fighting the second Trump administration as Trump targets the state, threatening to withhold disaster aid during its devastating wildfires, and derailing its electric vehicle plans by cutting electric vehicle charging infrastructure funding.
In February 2026, a coalition of 13 states including California sued the Trump Administration over the cancellation of billions of dollars of funding for clean energy provided under the Inflation Reduction Act. And in March 2026, California and New York led a coalition of 23 states and 14 cities and counties in a lawsuit against the EPA’s revocation of the endangerment finding. Gavin Newsom has called the endangerment finding the “backbone” of federal climate policy.
In 2020, California introduced landmark legislation banning the sale of gas-powered vehicles by 2035, but the Trump Administration moved to block the ban in 2025, along with other regulations on tailpipe emissions. California sued in response, and in the meantime is continuing to enforce limits on vehicle emissions. In March 2026, the Trump administration sued California over the state’s zero-emission vehicle and tailpipe greenhouse gas emissions regulations. The case is expected to go to the Supreme Court.
As President Trump pulls the U.S. from international climate commitments, Governor Newsom is stepping in to fill the leadership void. California joined the International Union for Conservation of Nature, and Newsom attended international events including the 2026 Munich Security Conference and COP30, participating in panel discussions and meeting with leaders and organizers to build global alliances on climate action, producing memorandums of understanding with Chile, Colombia, Nigeria, and Brazil.
In September 2025, Newsom signed an executive order responding to the climate-disaster fueled insurance crisis, calling for agencies to develop tools for disaster recovery, to make insurance more affordable and accessible, and to ensure compensation for wildfire survivors. Also in September 2025, Newsom expanded California’s historic Cap and Invest program, and signed a bill to extend the Wildfire Fund and ensure 2025 Eaton Fire wildfire victims receive compensation.
The California Water Plan 2028 launched in February 2026, setting a statewide water supply target for the first time. California is also currently considering a bill which would shift the cost of climate disasters from survivors to oil and gas companies. With rising insurance costs in the aftermath of the 2025 Los Angeles Fires, the proposed Affordable Insurance and Recovery Act would place these costs on those most responsible - fossil fuel companies.
However, Governor Gavin Newsom has also backtracked on some of his climate goals, supporting legislation that would make it easier to drill for oil in California and keep oil refineries open for longer.
CREDIT: CalEPA
