Public Utilities Commission

Senate leader Kevin de Leon took the unusual step of withholding his support for Governor Brown’s nominees to the Public Utilities Commission (PUC), Cliff Rechtschaffen and Martha Guzman Aceves, arguing that they have many questions to answer before de Leon agrees to give them a vote by the full Senate.

Participating in a press conference yesterday in downtown LA, I watched as Jane Fowler faced the TV cameras and teared up over the re-opening of Sempra’s giant Aliso Canyon gas reserve next door to where she lives.

The site of the biggest methane well blowout in U.S. history forced her to flee, and the now-capped well is still leaking methane that makes her sick.

While in Beijing last month, Gov. Jerry Brown publicly promoted the fight against climate change. Just as important was the quiet attendance of AES, a major builder of fossil-fuel power plants in California.

Was the governor making plans to cut greenhouse-gas emissions, or was he making deals to build more climate-warming natural gas plants? Unfortunately, California’s transparency laws don’t ensure the disclosure of such backroom conversations.