This weekly newsletter highlights the latest from the California Energy Journal along with links to articles and analysis on key developments in California energy policy.
From the California Energy Journal
Appeals Court Halts California Climate Risk Law (November 19, 2025) – A federal appeals court granted an injunction against one of California’s climate reporting laws. The Chamber of Commerce and other business groups have challenged the laws on First Amendment grounds and have sought to block implementation of the laws while their lawsuit proceeds. Read more.
Interior Offshore Oil Drilling Plan Includes Six Potential California Lease Areas (November 21, 2025) – The Department of the Interior released a draft proposal to lease approximately 1.27 billion acres in the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS), including in six areas off the coast of California. The draft proposal, released on November 20, 2025, follows reports on a leaked draft of the plan earlier this month. Read more.
Additional California News and Analysis
Oil and gas
The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) voted to allow the struggling Crimson California Pipeline LP to increase its rate from Los Angeles Basin oil fields to Los Angeles refineries by 26%. Greenwire (November 21, 2025).
Chevron argued in a paid article in Axios that California must “act now to encourage investment in refinery capacity and infrastructure, adopt energy policies that keep gasoline prices affordable for Californians and simultaneously strengthen the economy.” Axios (November 18, 2025).
The Energy Information Administration found that while natural gas generation still provides more electricity than any other source in California, electricity generation from natural gas has decreased over the past several years while generation from solar has increased. U.S. EIA (November 24, 2025).
Commentary
Stu Turley, “Gavin Newsom’s Total War on Oil and Gas Has Been a Giant Success – In Fact, Too Successful, with Jet Fuel Shipped in from India,” Energy News Beat, November 17, 2025.
Vince Fong, “Newsom’s war on energy is crippling California and undermining our military,” Fox News, November 24, 2025.
Offshore oil drilling
Commentary
Mike Stoker, “History is (Unfortunately) About to Repeat Itself,” Santa Barbara Current, November 19, 2025.
Offshore wind
The Trump administration’s move to reopen California’s coastal waters to offshore oil drilling could risk a direct collision with the state’s emerging floating-wind industry. Axios (November 21, 2025).
Carbon emissions
The California Air Resources Board (CARB) approved changes to California’s regulations on methane emissions from landfills. CARB (November 20, 2025); Politico (November 20, 2025).
Liza Gross, “California Is Finally Updating Its Methane Landfill Rule,” Inside Climate News, November 20, 2025.
An environmental justice leader resigned in protest from a committee advising the California Air Resources Board, stating that the board was dismissing science “at the expense of low-income communities and communities of color.” E&E News (November 19, 2025); Inside Climate News (November 21, 2025).
The Los Angeles Board of Harbor Commissioners approved an agreement with the South Coast Air Quality Management District (South Coast AQMD), Port of Los Angeles, and Port of Long Beach to accelerate development and implementation of zero-emission technology and infrastructure at both ports. The cooperative agreement covers all major port emission source categories, including cargo handling equipment, harbor craft, trucks, trains and ocean-going vessels. Port of Los Angeles (November 20, 2025).
Power and utilities
“How Will CAISO Navigate the Path to Decarbonization?, Aurora Energy Research, November 20, 2025.
Commentary
Edward Ring, “Shifting Costs Does Not Solve California’s Electricity Shortages,” California Policy Center, November 19, 2025.(Report: The High Cost of Electricity in California.)
Data centers
The Little Hoover Commission held a virtual hearing on data centers and California electricity policy. This hearing focused on framing the landscape around data centers and California’s electricity system. The full agenda, along with the background materials provided to commissioners can be accessed here. Little Hoover Commission (November 20, 2025).
Coal
Oakland reneged on a contract allowing coal shipments, leading to legal rulings against the city that could cost it hundreds of millions of dollars. NYT; SFIST (November 24, 2025).
Politics
Commentary
Mandi Risko, “As California Democrats Move to Center on Energy Amidst Affordability Concerns, Billionaire Tom Steyer Misses the Mark,” Energy in Depth, November 21, 2025.
Energy policy
Caleb Jasso, “California’s Green Gambit: A Timeline,” Institute for Energy Research, November 19, 2025.
Additional News and Analysis
Oil and gas
Protests against oil pipelines with the slogan “keep it in the ground,” they don’t end up keeping most oil in the ground, and their efforts may even have side effects, like increasing air pollution when the oil is transported in other ways. Axios (November 25, 2025).
Offshore oil drilling
The Interior Department will skip the standard environmental analysis for its five-year offshore drilling plan, a break from the agency’s decadeslong practice. E&E News (November 25, 2025).
International climate policy
Senator Sheldon Whitehouse warned of an international climate community ready to charge forward without the United States. He said China, in particular, was “very dominant” in its public-facing presence at the conference. E&E News (November 21, 2025).
Laurence Tubiana, “Trade policy is central to the green transition,” FT, November 19, 2025.
Hydrogen
Exxon Mobil has paused plans to build what would be one of the world’s largest hydrogen production facilities due to weak customer demand. Reuters (November 21, 2025).
Critical minerals
Camilla Hodgson, Cordu Krubally-N’Diaye, and Martha Muir, “Can the US break China’s grip on rare earths?,” FT, November 9, 2025.