Four gubernatorial candidates tackled issues about the state’s climate, the economy and wildfires during the final forum of the California Economic Summit.
The two-day summit was hosted by California Forward and the California Stewardship Network at the Adventist Health Arena, and drew leaders from across the state to discuss the shifting economy amid a shifting political landscape.
California’s governorship opens up next year when Governor Gavin Newsom terms out, four candidates took the opportunity to explain their plans for the state. Moderated by CalMatters’ Jeanne Kuang, the forum participants included former State Controller Betty Yee (D), former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa (D), State Superintendent Tony Thurmond (D) and Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco (R).
Former State Assembly Leader Ian Calderon (D) was meant to be at the forum, however his flight out of Los Angeles was delayed.
Pushing Climate Goals Forward
Kuang kicked off the forum by addressing California’s ambitious climate goals, which aim for carbon neutrality by 2045. She asked how candidates would advance these goals while supporting oil-dependent regions and easing energy costs for consumers.
Villaraigosa emphasized an “all-of-the-above” energy strategy. He cited his record as author of the Colin Moyer Memorial Air Standard Attainment Program during his time as state assembly speaker. The program provides grants to reduce emissions from sources like heavy-duty engines, established in 1998.
During his time as L.A. mayor, he said he reduced water consumption to levels near equivalent to the 1970s.
Villaraigosa warned against closing refineries, predicting gas prices could rise to $8-10 per gallon, and advocated for natural gas as a transition fuel, small nuclear reactors and grid expansion to make renewables viable.
“We need an all-of-the-above strategy,” Villaraigosa said. “If we close down refineries and make it impossible for them to operate, gas prices are going to go up to, according to (University of Southern California professor Michael Mische) $8.75 to $10 a gallon. We need an all of the above strategy that focuses on keeping those refineries alive. Good union jobs, by the way. We need natural gas as a transition fuel. If we want to get to 2045, we’ve got to build a grid. We’ve got to build a grid, because if we did all of that today, we don’t have the grid to be all electric.”
A study done by professor Mische was highlighted in a letter from Senate Minority Leader Brian Jones to Governor Newsom, projected prices could spike 75% to $8.43 per gallon by late 2026 due to the shutdowns of the Phillips 66 refinery (closing by end-2025) and the Valero refinery (closing April 2026), which would slash about 20% of the state’s gasoline production capacity amid regulatory pressures.
Yee stressed integrating climate considerations into all policies, from housing to public health. She called for a public transition plan with measurable targets for CO2 emissions and jobs, emphasizing accountability. She referenced the refinery in Rodeo, CA shift to renewables as a model where workers developed sustainable fuels.
“There’s already work happening in all parts of California on the energy transition,” Yee said. “We have a great renewable facility in Rodeo, where Phillips 66 took a financial hit, kept the refinery kept going, but asked their employees to develop these next stage renewable fuels. They’ve developed renewable diesel and sustainable aviation fuels.”
Thurmond affirmed climate change’s reality, drawing from personal evacuation experiences. He proposed infrastructure upgrades for sea-level rise, leveraging university expertise for innovations and balancing transitions with job preservation, such as through carbon capture in refineries.
“I’ve established a construction job training program that focuses on solar panel installation, I’ve shut down idle oil wells and I’ve advocated for divestment from fossil fuels for some of our largest investments, like the CalSTRS retirement,” Thurmond said. “That refinery has made a switch to more renewables and is protecting and preserving important California jobs. At the same time, we have to turn this conversation into a win-win, not as one or the other.”
Bianco argued against the move toward green energy, blaming the government’s push toward the transition for Californians leaving the state. He advocated for the government letting innovation drive transition rather than regulations, but failed to provide specifics for how this would occur. Bianco said environmental care should stem from prosperity enabled by less government interference.
“The problem with California is that career politicians have operated in a bubble outside of the impact that it’s actually having on real Californians, and the reality of moving away into the renewables and into green and all of that is that is the responsibility,” Bianco said. “When you look at California over the last 30 years, as we move into this as the government is forcing it – we have to realize that California is a leader, and we should be, but we’re the only one that’s punishing our residents with our lofty climate goals.”
Boosting Wildfire Funding
The forum also took audience questions that were sent in, including a query from Steven Frisch of the Sierra Business Council. He questioned why the state has spent only about $400 to $600 million on wildfire risk reduction without greater investment in wildfire risk reduction, and how funding for wildfire affiliates be prioritized.
Bianco’s answer drew audible disapproval from the audience. The sheriff proposed suspending regulations that, he says, prevents fire departments from providing forest maintenance.
“This has absolutely nothing to do with global warming or anything else. We have fire season in California, and we have the wind season in California, and the only reason there are bigger fires is because the fuel in our hills and our mountains has been overly overgrown basically, because of nature,” Bianco said. “But the reality of homes and communities and everything else and prevention is that we have to mitigate that damage, and the fire departments are being prevented because of environmental activists from going into our forests, our hills, and removing some of that fuel.”
He cited Governor Newsom’s decision to suspend the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and the California Coastal Act following the Pacific Palisades fire.
Newsom did suspend these regulations in January during the Pacific Palisades fire. The governor said the reason was to accelerate the rebuilding of utility and communication lines, such as undergrounding power lines.
Newsom also issued an executive order that directed the Coastal Commission to not issue guidance that conflicts with these rebuilding efforts. This action was taken under a declared state of emergency.
“As your governor, I will do it for the entire state, these ridiculous over regulated policies that we are appeasing environmental activists – and I’ll go ahead and say they’re environmental activist terrorists that are preventing California from doing what we should be doing to protect ourselves will absolutely change,” Bianco said.
Audience disapproval echoed in the area, with an attendee shouting, “Climate activism is not terrorism!”
Superintendent Thurmond reaffirmed the “undeniable” impact climate change has on the risk of wildfires, but focused on calls for resources to help residents build stronger homes with materials that can sustain wildfires, undergrounding utilities and more controlled burns to reduce threats. He criticized insurers for abandoning Californians, promising accountability and incentives for fire-resistant materials.
“It’s a tragedy that they got a rate increase after saying no to Californians, and so we have to hold (Insurance companies) to account, but we also have a responsibility to our citizens to help them to harden their homes, to make sure their homes are using materials are less likely to be to be less flammable,” Thurmond said. “We have to do all the things we do and give financial incentives to families.”
Yee saw economic opportunities in biofuels from fuel reduction, urging state facilitation of a workforce sector. She also emphasized federal forest lands’ role and hollowed agencies, framing it as resilience-building.
“Frankly, a lot of the fuel reduction that has to be done is for the Federal forest lands and those agencies have been hollowed out by and large,” Yee said. “This can’t be all about how we’re going to just wait until somebody comes to the rescue. Communities are living with us now, and the knowledge that is up in the north of our state has looked into this.”
Villaraigosa agreed $400 million is insufficient wildfire prevention funding, encouraging input from firefighters and other professionals to try to figure out what amount is needed. He emphasized catastrophic modeling, reinsurance and avoiding high-risk developments amid climate change.
“The next governor has got to work with the insurance commissioner,” Villaraigosa said. “Thankfully we now do catastrophic modeling, we now do reinsurance and we’re now committed to picking up rates, in a shorter period of time. These fires do have a relationship with climate change, and so we’re going to have to make a bigger investment than we have in the past. Exactly how much, I’ll consult the experts – but no question about it, we’re gonna have to harden assets, we’re gonna have to fix our insurance, and we’re gonna have to provide more money for our first responders.”
Governor Newsom briefly attended the event during a surprise session on Oct. 22, staying for only two hours.
This was the first time the California Economic Summit was held in San Joaquin County. Stockton hosted the gathering from Oct. 21-23, with an estimated 850 people attending the summit.
Next year, the summit is set to be hosted in Long Beach.