Solar Panels on Farms, Over Canals
Farmers who invested in renewable energy are wading through the unknown due to Trump's freeze, and the first solar tunnel goes up over the California aqueduct.
Welcome to issue number nine of State of Change, a project of the Climate Equity Reporting Project at Berkeley Journalism.
Featured Stories
Solar Canal Pilot May One Day Help California Achieve its Ambitious Climate, Energy Goals
The first solar tunnel was connected to the grid in March.
By Riley Ramirez
Do Heat Pumps Save You Money? In California, It Depends on Your Electric Utility
Sky-high electricity rates may be getting in the way of California’s building decarbonization goals.
By Twilight Greenaway
California Climate News
Federal Policy (That Impacts California)
Last week, the House of Representatives voted to roll back both California’s EV sales mandate and its vehicle emissions standards for heavy-duty vehicles—two rules that have been at the center of the state’s plan to reduce emissions and fight climate change. As the fight over EVs moves to the Senate, however, Republican lawmakers will likely face intense opposition. That’s because the state’s ability to enforce its emissions targets rely on waivers from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Elizabeth MacDonough, the Senate parliamentarian, doesn’t believe Congress has the power to overturn those waivers. But Republican Senators have indicated that they plan to ignore her decision. And the big automakers have been lobbying Congress, pushing for an end to the “EV madness” so the mandate may not be long for this world.
The Trump administration's proposal for $1.7 billion in cuts to the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) threatens the future of ocean’s research taking place in California. The Central & Northern California Ocean Observing System could lose funding for tools that help monitor ocean currents, ocean temperatures, and harmful algae blooms—all data that is used by the Coast Guard in their rescue missions. Academic research institutions, such as UC Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography, are also at risk of losing significant percentages of their funding.
After the authors of the National Climate Assessment—a comprehensive assessment of how climate change is expected to affect human health, agriculture, fisheries, water supplies, transportation, energy production, and more—were “released from their roles” last week, the American Meteorological Society and American Geophysical Union announced that they are joining forces in hopes of providing an alternative repository of timely climate research and information.
Climate Impacts
California’s insurance department is working toward creating the nation’s first-ever public wildfire model, which could be used to predict future disaster risk and help companies set insurance rates for homes. The department will look at private models from companies, such as Versik and Moody, to create the public catastrophe model, in an effort to provide more transparency for real estate buyers. The goal is to better understand wildfire risk in certain areas in the state and prevent insurance companies from overcharging residents based on their own opaque modeling.
Many hungry pelicans in Northern California are malnourished and taking dangerous risks to obtain food, such as getting caught in fishing nets and venturing onto roadways. Scientists say warming ocean temperatures, which cause fish to swim deeper, are to blame.
California saw a 62% increase in valley fever cases in the last year compared to the two previous years. According to a recent study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the spike in cases of the respiratory disease was caused by longer dry periods and wetter winters. Together, these two extremes create the perfect environment for the fungal growth needed for valley fever to persist. The CDC recommends creating predictive models that could foresee “hydroclimatic swings” and better prepare for cases of the illness.
The LA fires have been catastrophic for the surrounding environment. A partnership of state and federal agencies has brought together a group of 40 scientists who are preparing to survey marine life off the state’s coasts near the Palisades and Eaton fires. Meanwhile, the LA Times has been filling the gap left by FEMA, and testing the soil in the impacted areas. They found dangerously elevated levels of arsenic, lead and mercury in the areas that have been cleaned up by federal agencies.
The Energy Transition
There were no injuries reported after a fire that broke out yesterday at the Valero Benicia Refinery, but the incident left plumes of toxic spoke floating around the Bay Area and nearby residents were ordered to shelter in place for part of the morning. The oil refinery is one of just three that remain in Contra Costa County and last month its owners announced that it will either restructure in 2026 or close its doors permanently. After Valero’s announcement, Governor Gavin Newsom urged short-term and long-term planning to address the closures of refineries while ensuring that residents have “safe access to fuel.”
As California continues to pursue clean energy and battle wildfires, the utilities in the state are investing heavily in burying their power lines. Southern California Edison is looking to begin the process of burying 150 million circuit miles of power lines in Altadena, where the Eaton fire took place, to the tune of $860 to $925 million. The LA Department of Water and Power, meanwhile, might spend up to 14 million burying lines in the Palisades area. Despite these high-profile projects, it’s clear that it isn’t feasible to bury the power lines in every high risk area of the state. LAist took a closer look at the costs and the alternatives to ungrounding power lines and one of the most promising is solar power and battery storage.
Former Southern California Executive Assemblymember Lisa Calderon introduced a bill (AB 942) that would cut energy credits for rooftop solar owners in half. Advocates for the bill argue that solar owners are causing electricity rates to go up for everyone else, but the many environmental groups opposing the bill responded with a letter, stating: “To address rising rates, California must focus on what’s really wrong with our energy system: uncontrolled utility spending and record utility profits.
Leaders from several California’s energy-related agencies came together last week to assess the state of the grid before summer heat hits the state. They announced that the addition of battery power and 20,000 megawatts (MW) of new clean energy supply has made the grid “stronger, smarter, and cleaner than it has ever been.”
Building electrification
Last month, the Berkeley City Council approved new rules that will require outgoing homeowners and home buyers to put money towards energy efficient upgrades—such as installing heat pumps to replace gas appliances—if their homes do not meet efficiency standards at the time of sale. Until now the city has asked homeowners to make energy-efficiency upgrades on a voluntary basis. According to KQED, “the measure is intended to help Berkeley homeowners prepare for new requirements from the Bay Area Air District, which will prohibit the sale and installation of gas-powered water heaters and furnaces starting in 2027.”
Rebuilding has begun in Altadena and the Palisades more than three months after the devastating wildfires. A group of climate advocates hope to convince Los Angeles policy-makers to incentivize rebuilding with electric appliances, but the effort will likely prove difficult. After the fires, Mayor Karen Bass issued an executive order to speed up the permitting process for homeowners who plan to rebuild their homes, and it allowed for the installation of gas appliances despite an existing 2022 ordinance that requires most new buildings in LA to be outfitted with electric appliances. For that reason, climate groups are hoping to convince many individual homeowners to give up gas of their own volition.
Transportation
A new study found that Caltrain’s recent switch from diesel to electric trains dramatically improved the air quality in the neighborhoods near the train stations. The findings show that electrifying the trains significantly reduced the presence of black carbon in the areas surrounding the train stations and the riders themselves were exposed to 89% less of the carcinogen. The trains are also quieter, more reliable and produce fewer greenhouse gases than traditional diesel locomotives. The researchers calculated that Caltrain’s electrification cut excess cancer deaths by 51 per 1 million people for riders and 330 per 1 million people for train conductors. The authors of the study hope the findings will motivate more U.S. municipalities to electrify their railways.
In San Diego, two nonprofits are set to lose millions of dollars in promised EPA funding for projects meant to improve the health and well-being of the communities. The funding cuts come as a result of the Trump administration’s mission to slash environmental justice programs. According to KPBS, one organization, Casa Familiar, was supposed to receive $12.7 million for its Healthy Borders Community Change Project, which was to “provide the predominantly Latino community with low-cost, zero-emission transportation options such as e-bikes, electric vehicle car shares and shuttles.” Meanwhile, the San Diego Foundation will lose $20 million, which would have been spent on expanding a free micro-transit shuttle service, electrifying regional buses and homes, and providing air filters and weatherization upgrades. A total of 63 California grants worth nearly $300 million appeared on an internal EPA list of 400 grants set to be terminated.
Revenue from California’s 59 cents gas tax has fallen due to increased electric vehicle use and continued investment into clean transportation by the state. The tax is the primary source of state funding for highways and roads. The drop in revenue has prompted state officials to start exploring alternatives, such as a California Road Charge, which “could replace the gas tax with a mileage-based user fee charged to drivers who use the roads.” In other words, the more you drive, the more you pay. According to KTLA the state is working “to develop a program that is fair, transparent, and sustainable.”
SkyCharger, an electric vehicle charger developer, was awarded $10 million by the California Energy Commission to “design, construct and operate two publicly accessible electric truck stops along I-5 in Kettleman City and Lebec. The company says the stations will be capable of charging 64 heavy-duty trucks at a time at a minimum rate of 200 kW. Between 14,000 to 23,000 trucks pass through the two cities every day.
As federal cuts and freezes have stalled efforts in other states to electrify school bus fleets, Newsom’s office announced that California will spend $500 million on 1,000 zero-emission school buses and the related charging infrastructure. State grants will be provided to over 130 rural, low-income, and disadvantaged school districts. “California has the largest fleet of electric school buses in the country after pumping more than $1.3 billion into such efforts and funding more than 2,300 of the buses. Of those, 1,100 are already in use and some districts are 100% electric,” ABC News reported.
The California Air Resources Board was scheduled to run the second round of its California E-Bike Incentive Project on April 29, but the board ran into technical difficulties and announced that they will reschedule the give-away at a later date. The project would have provided $2,000 vouchers for Californians living in disadvantaged and low-income communities to purchase a new e-bike. The first time the program was offered, last December, nearly 100,000 people waited in a queue in hopes of receiving one of the 1,500 vouchers. Since 2021, California legislators have approved $31 million for the program to incentivize people away from using cars for short distance trips. Only about 20% of the funding has been used so far.
Housing
The California Senate Housing Committee recently moved to advance SB 79, a bill that would eliminate housing bans that cities have enacted in neighborhoods around transit stops. The bill would also legalize apartment buildings within a half mile of transit stations, allowing buildings of up to 75 feet or higher in single-family home neighborhoods. The aim is to add housing and increase density around transit stations to spur public transit usage.
Last month, State Senator Scott Wiener’s Fast & Focused CEQA Act, SB 607, passed through the Senate Environmental Quality Committee. The bill would make several changes to improve the clarity and efficiency of California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) processes by speeding reviews for a wide range of projects, including infill housing. Under CEQA, environmental review for building or altering structures often takes years to complete. “While housing projects in urban areas, also known as ‘infill’ housing projects, are currently exempt from CEQA, a lack of clarity has prevented the exemption from being used,” said Sen. Scott Wiener’s office in a press release. Infill housing refers to building within existing space within a city rather than adding sprawl, which the Governor’s Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation says is “critical to accommodating growth and redesigning our cities to be environmentally and socially sustainable.” The bill is now headed to the Senate Local Government Committee for review and approval.
Waste
Every Day Action, a food recovery nonprofit in Los Angeles, gathers uneaten catering from film and TV sets that would otherwise be tossed and delivers the meals to food pantries, shelters, nonprofits, and low-income households. In the United States, food loss and waste is estimated to be roughly one third of food produced for human consumption, according to USDA. When food ends up in landfills, it generates methane, a powerful greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change. Last year, the nonprofit diverted roughly 90,000 meals away from landfills.
Feature: Thousands of Farmers Installed Solar Panels, Now They’re Wading Through the Unknown
By Stella Singer
This winter, the Trump Administration froze funding for many of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) programs aimed at helping farmers build resiliency in the face of climate change, including the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP), which allows them to install solar panels and wind turbines, retrofit buildings, and invest in equipment that uses renewable energy.
Then, in late March, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins announced that the USDA would begin lifting its freeze on some REAP funding. However, the reinstatement of funds came with new strings attached. The USDA said it would allow grant and loan recipients up to 30 days to “revise their project plans” to “eliminate Biden-era DEIA and climate mandates embedded in previous proposals.” While doing so is optional, it’s not yet clear how the choice not to make revisions might impact current grantees. In early April, The Washington Post reported that one farmer who responded saying he would make no changes had already received a reimbursement check, while others were still waiting.
REAP was originally a bipartisan effort passed as part of the 2008 Farm Bill and it has been supporting farmers ever since. But it received a big boost in 2022 when the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) called for a sizable increase in the program’s funding, and Congress appropriated over $900 million toward the program.
Andy Olsen, a Senior Policy Advocate at the Environmental Law & Policy Center who has worked on REAP since its conception and believes it has accelerated the clean energy transition in rural communities. He commented on Rollin’s announcement in a press release, saying: “Instead of honoring their commitments, the USDA now demands that these farmers and rural small businesses jump through more hoops when they’re already struggling with high costs and uncertainty. This isn’t cutting red tape; it’s adding more.”
In California, a majority of REAP funds go to the Central Valley, the agricultural powerhouse of the state and nation. California farmers pay some of the highest rates for energy in the US and programs like REAP stand to help them reduce these costs by boosting local energy production. Many of the projects are awarded to farms located in disadvantaged or low-income communities.
“One of the few opportunities some farms have to increase very tight profit margins and their quality of life is to cut their energy cost, REAP helps them with that,” said Olsen.
REAP supports rural communities in the transition to sustainable, more efficient energy, and the California Energy Commission reports that the program ultimately pays off in “cleaner air, improved public health, and increased investment in regions often underserved by clean energy programs.”
In November, the California farm belt, stretching from Kern County to San Joaquin County, voted overwhelmingly in favor of President Trump. Now, many of the same farmers are facing uncertainty at a time when American farmers are already burdened with rising input costs, threats to workers due to immigration raids and deportations, and a wide array of worsening climate impacts. The economic impacts after defunding affect "every state, red states, blue states. This hits every type of farm: small farms, big farms, farms that grow niche commodities, and huge operations that grow corn and soy. It hurts across all of them”, said Becky Schewe, Research & Policy Analyst at The National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC).
In California alone, from 2014 to 2025, $64 million in grants and $170 million in loans were awarded across 345 REAP projects. According to Schewe, federal funds create a chain reaction that results in more private investment in rural communities, “for every $1 in USDA REAP grants, you get $8.72 of total project spending and investment. If those REAP dollars are reduced, all those other dollars go away too.”
Historically, commercial solar development in the Valley has not substantially and equitably benefited local communities. Programs like REAP are designed to remedy that inequity, increasing rural energy independence and public health. A report from the nonprofit Clean Air Task Force found that “Valley leaders express significant interest in finding opportunities to create as much local value as possible from new development.” The same CATF report found that the Central Valley has unique access to state and federal clean energy funding that provides “potential to build a significant portion of the solar infrastructure” needed to achieve the state’s ambitious goals.
Although some portion of the REAP funding has been unfrozen, new demands to revise and resubmit grant proposals and hazy communication mean farmers are still incredibly uncertain about the future of their projects. Larry Beiler at Paradise Energy, a solar energy company, noted that although funding may return, “this has been an expense for our customers who have been carrying interest cost during this sixty-day time frame for an unknown amount of time.”
In the long run, such a funding freeze rattles the trust farmers and businesses have in federal clean energy programs. “There has been a real immediate impact on people's interest and ability to adopt renewables and improve energy efficiency,” said Schewe. Olsen agreed. He says he’s worried about the “greater harm” of the erosion of trust in the faith and goodwill of the United States government.
“It is bad faith to sign contracts with people and then to pull a rug out from under them.” The Environmental Law and Policy Center has been talking with farmers around the country, and Olsen has noticed that “when farmers see their neighbors or hear of other people who took part in REAP and have been harmed as a result, it's a big disincentive to take part in federal programs.”
Wow. The piece by Singer was well-written and extremely informative.