Gov. Gavin Newsom is ostentatiously pivoting to the center ahead of a possible presidential bid in 2028. But whatever his rhetoric, his climate policies are seriously out of step with the law and public opinion.
Under Newsom’s leadership, California is at the vanguard of a lawfare campaign meant to bring American energy policy in line with the French Landry set. The state and many of its cities and counties are suing energy providers for billions of dollars over climate change, aiming to bankrupt fossil fuel companies or pressure the industry into implementing Green New Deal-type practices.
Climate lawfare is pure Brahmin left politics – the kind Newsom is now scrambling to distance himself from. Monied leftwing foundations are covering costs associated with the lawsuits. Bay Area radicals in Oakland and San Francisco are fellow plaintiffs alongside the state. And the underlying policy goals are deeply unpopular beyond the cloistered world of NGOs. The plaintiffs will put judgment or settlement dollars toward “climate resilience,” that is, overfunded leftwing amenity projects like the high-speed rail project that have earned California its reputation for dysfunction.
The state and eight of its towns and counties filed virtually identical claims against energy providers, which were consolidated into a single case before a judge in San Francisco. California’s lawsuit makes for paranoid and extravagant reading, blaming energy providers for floods, plummeting birthrates and poultry deaths. The unifying principle is ideological loathing of the defendants.
“The scale of the devastating public nuisance created by Defendants’ egregious misconduct is truly staggering, and California will be dealing with the consequences of this misconduct for many generations,” the lawsuit reads. This is familiar ground for the governor. Newsom effectively accused energy executives of murder in September 2023, baselessly blaming industry for wildfires that killed 85 people in Paradise, California in 2018.
This kind of rhetoric plays well in the salons of San Francisco, not the diners of Iowa or New Hampshire. Other Democrats have already distanced themselves from the Green New Deal-style goals in Newsom’s lawsuit – giving him cover to do the same, if he wants.
The Biden administration slow walked plans to mandate electric vehicles after pushback from manufacturers and auto dealers. Bans on gas-powered stoves have proven politically toxic and remain confined to bastions of the elite left. Even the transition to alternatives is losing luster. President Biden sought reelection boasting about expansion of domestic oil and gas production during his first term.
The politics around climate lawfare are bad and the courtroom record is worse. Judges in Maryland, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania have dismissed climate lawsuits identical to California’s within the last six months. These holdings correctly explain that climate plaintiffs are using state court proceedings as a Trojan horse for a radical, full scale rework of national – indeed international – climate policies. The law does not allow that, and courts are not competent to make energy policy in all events.
Critically, these decisions underscore that Newsom cannot claim California’s lawsuit is a local response to local problems. It is a subversive bid to run climate policy from Sacramento. The relief that climate plaintiffs are seeking – billions in damages, changes to fundamental business practices – effect all consumers. There is no explaining this away on a podcast with Charlie Kirk.
The strangest piece of California’s climate case is that it seems redundant. The state was ruining its energy future before getting in on the climate lawfare scheme. Overregulation shuttered oil refineries. Two more will close by 2026. State-mandated additives meant to lower emissions drove gas prices up. As of this writing, the average gas price in the U.S. is $3.15. But it’s $4.78 in California, according to AAA’s national fuel price index. The sale of gas-powered vehicles will be illegal after 2035. And Chevron, a Fortune 15 company, relocated its headquarters from San Ramon to Houston.
Newsom can’t erase the damage he’s done. But walking away from California’s climate lawfare crusade would at least show he’s serious about changing course. I won’t hold my breath.
Jason Isaac is CEO of the American Energy Institute and a former member of the Texas House of Representatives.