California experienced a record-setting heat wave in early September that brought the state’s electricity grid very close to failure and forced tough choices on customers trying to stay cool while complying with alerts to save energy. 

Against that backdrop, the state legislature moved to pass a suite of climate and energy bills, a record $54 billion in new climate spending, and a plan to extend the life of the state’s last nuclear power plant — all just days after the state finalized one of the most ambitious rules to stop the sale of new gas-powered cars. 

What does this big policy push say about the state of California’s energy mix? And how is the world’s 5th largest economy planning to cope with the intensifying impacts of climate change? 

Political Climate hosts Julia Pyper and Shane Skelton are joined by Sammy Roth, staff writer at the LA Times and author of the weekly Boiling Point newsletter, to discuss how the clean energy transition is playing out in California and the lessons it can teach the rest of the country. 

Listen and subscribe to Political Climate on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher or pretty much wherever you get podcasts! Follow us on Twitter at @Poli_Climate.

Recommended reading:

• LA Times: Repowering the West
• LA Times: Newsom enjoys his most successful legislative session yet with wins on climate, Diablo Canyon
• Canary Media: California faces big power challenges — even if Diablo Canyon stays open
• LA Times: Gov. Newsom’s plan to prevent power outages has a big downside: fossil fuels
• Grist: Drilling setbacks, net-zero, and a nuclear lifeline. Here’s what just happened in California.

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Political Climate is brought to you by MCE. Today, MCE offers nearly 40 Bay Area communities almost twice as much renewable energy as the state average. The power of MCE is about more than clean energy — it’s the power of people over profit. Learn more at mceCleanEnergy.org.