California is going big on offshore wind. That’s good for climate, but not enough

This story was originally published in Boiling Point, a newsletter about climate change and the environment. Gavin Newsom announced a deal with legislative leaders that could prompt construction of California’s first offshore wind farms — an expensive but valuable resource that researchers have found can play a key role in reaching 100% clean energy. He described the legislation — along with a recently approved bill to speed up infrastructure permitting, and last summer’s deal to make it easier for state officials to approve solar and wind farms over local objections — as a “down payment.” For the Golden State to move beyond fossil fuels — and eliminate its reliance on polluting facilities such as coastal gas plants and the Aliso Canyon gas storage field — building renewable energy needs to be much simpler and faster, Jackson said. “It’s going to need to be paired with a whole lot more reforms.” Power lines run through California’s Imperial Valley, an farming region that also produces growing amounts of solar energy. Another dispiriting new study suggests wildfires caused by early humans fueled mass extinctions in Southern California starting 13,000 years ago — a finding that does not bode well for today, The Times’ Corinne Purtill writes.