Gov. Newsom’s Climate Grift Spent $33 Billion in Cap-and-Trade to ‘Make Communities Cleaner and Healthier’

Arnold Schwarzenegger set up a grift, that every year takes billions from consumers and gives the money to giant corporations.  Cap and Trade is about moving bad air from one place to another, not getting rid of it.  This, at a massive cost to the consumer.  In fact, half of the bad air in California since 2000 has been because of wild fires—that could have been stopped or controlled.

“As the Globe has been pointing out for many years, California already surpassed its original greenhouse gas emissions reductions target of 1990 levels of  by 2020 – this was achieved in 2016 – even the Governor’s Climate Dashboard website admits this:

“The 2006 California Global Warming Solutions Act (Assembly Bill 32) set a target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions back to 1990 levels by 2020. California surpassed this target four years early in 2016, and emissions have continued to drop since then. California’s next climate target is to reduce emissions by 40% below 1990 levels by 2030. The Scoping Plan lays out how California will achieve this target.”

This is why California Democrats have to keep moving the goals – we already are a clean state, with some of the cleanest air in the world.”

Government, not corporations or the consumer is the problem.  Want to save the middle class and jobs—end this socialist transfer of funds.

Gov. Newsom’s Climate Grift Spent $33 Billion in Cap-and-Trade to ‘Make Communities Cleaner and Healthier’

Wildfire smoke has added enough pollution to the air to wipe out nearly half of the total air quality gains made from 2000 onward

By Katy Grimes, California Globe,  5/8/25     https://californiaglobe.com/fl/gov-newsoms-climate-grift-spent-33-billion-in-cap-and-trade-to-make-communities-cleaner-and-healthier/

California Governor Gavin Newsom claims that greenhouse gas emissions are down in California – not just down but “down 20% since 2000.” 

“Pollution is down and the economy is up,” Newsom said. “Greenhouse gas emissions in California are down 20% since 2000 – even as the state’s GDP increased 78% in that same time period,” Newsom says, in a press statement bragging that the “State invests nearly $33 billion in cap-and-trade dollars to make communities cleaner and healthier.”

Newsom gets this groundbreaking information from none other than the California Air Resources Board – a board made up of Newsom appointees. And now the governor wants to extend the shady cap-and-trade program out beyond 2030 to reach the 2045 goals. Oy. The grift never ends in Newsomworld.

As the Globe has been pointing out for many years, California already surpassed its original greenhouse gas emissions reductions target of 1990 levels of  by 2020 – this was achieved in 2016 – even the Governor’s Climate Dashboard website admits this:

“The 2006 California Global Warming Solutions Act (Assembly Bill 32) set a target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions back to 1990 levels by 2020. California surpassed this target four years early in 2016, and emissions have continued to drop since then. California’s next climate target is to reduce emissions by 40% below 1990 levels by 2030. The Scoping Plan lays out how California will achieve this target.”

This is why California Democrats have to keep moving the goals – we already are a clean state, with some of the cleanest air in the world.

It’s also interesting because since year 2000, there have been 194,844 wildfires in California according to CalFire and Frontline Wildfire News.

Notably, here are the 5 most destructive fires in California, again, all since year 2000 other than the 1991 Oakland Hills fire:

As the Western Fire Chiefs Association explains, “Wildfire smoke is a complex mixture of gases and particles that can have far-reaching effects. The composition of wildfire smoke fluctuates depending on the type of vegetation burning, the temperature of the fire, and other variables,” citing data from OEHHA.ca.gov

A study published in Nature found that since 2016, in western states like California, Washington and Oregon, wildfire smoke has added enough pollution to the air to wipe out nearly half of the total air quality gains made from 2000 onward.

Oops, Gov. Newsom.

Additionally, NPR reported:

“In 41 states, air quality had been getting better between 2000 and the 2010s. But as wildfires exploded, those improvements stopped or even reversed. Smoke was responsible for just intermittent ‘exceedances,’ when air pollution exceeds EPA’s limits, in the early part of the record. By 2020-2022, wildfire smoke was the primary cause of bad air in four western states and a major contributor in 17 others.”

Oops, again. Wildfire smoke is causing most of California’s air pollution.

Even more notable, in the CARB report Gov. Newsom refers to, this chart doesn’t even list wildfires as a contributor to air pollution:

“The annual report provides detailed information about California Climate Investments (CCI), which distributes funds generated by cap‑and‑trade to 117 climate programs across the state,” the governor says. “CARB oversees CCI, which puts cap‑and‑trade dollars to work reducing greenhouse gas emissions, strengthening the economy, and improving public health — particularly among communities and households facing greater economic and environmental challenges.”

Most notable is Western Climate Initiative Inc (WCI, Inc.), the corporation created by the California Air Resources Board in 2011 to manage the then-new cap and trade auctions. The problem was that Western Climate Initiative Inc. was formed in Delaware, and not California. Delaware is not subject to California state open meeting or sunshine laws, leaving many questioning why CARB opted for such secrecy. The only reason to register the corporation in Delaware is the lack public or legislative scrutiny on any of their meetings or actions they take.

CARB operates like no other state agency. The rogue agency conducts its business in private, without the scrutiny of the public it is accountable to. Despite legislative and public outrage over the shroud of secrecy at CARB, then-Assembly Speaker John Perez was said to have crafted the language for SB 1018, which specifically exempted CARB from open meeting rules in cap-and-trade auctions, allowing CARB’s WCI Inc. to manage carbon trading auctions without any public scrutiny.

The outrage comes from the sole purpose of WCI Inc. — to impose hidden taxes on energy customers, as well as large and small businesses, without accountability or public knowledge. The CARB says in a November 2011 document that “WCI Inc., a new non-profit corporation formed to provide administrative and technical services to support the implementation of state and provincial greenhouse gas emissions trading programs.”

So when Gov. Newsom says “CARB oversees CCI, which puts cap‑and‑trade dollars to work reducing greenhouse gas emissions, strengthening the economy, and improving public health — particularly among communities and households facing greater economic and environmental challenges,” it’s a shakedown of businesses the CARB deems “polluters” to pay for their unproved climate programs across the state.

Newsom is excited that the shakedown of California businesses provided $13 billion to “climate programs across the state,” but only $1.5 billion went to wildfire prevention, according to his chart. Wildfire prevention should have been the priority. Affordable housing units and rebates for zero-emission vehicles don’t matter at all if your neighborhood burned down because of empty reservoirs and fire hydrants, and tinder-laden forests.

What makes California so great is what Newsom and the CARB bureaucrats want to shut down – the industrial sector, agricultural, livestock, crop production, cars and trucks, oil and gas, heating and cooling, cooking, water heating, steam generation, refrigeration and air conditioning, residential homes and commercial buildings – all “polluters” according to CARB and the governor.

If you live in a home, drive a car to work in a building, buy groceries, own a farm or ranch, and travel occasionally, you are part of the problem according to Governor Gavin Newsom. He can live this way, but not you. He wants you living in a concrete apartment building with no parking, next to a bus stop or light rail.

Let’s propose that state government lay off this climate grift, save taxpayers $33 Billion, and put a lot more effort into wildfire prevention – a much more measurable and practical goal.