The globe has evolved since I commenced working on Boiling Point five years back. There are increased solar energy facilities, fewer coal power plants, and a greater number of films addressing climate issues. We devote significant time contemplating artificial intelligence.

In other ways, not much has changed. Following a four-year break, climate change skeptic Donald Trump is set to be inaugurated as president again. Temperature records continue to be broken. In California, the high-speed train remains years from finishing.

I have covered all these subjects. Now, I also host a podcast centered around them.

Today, the Los Angeles Times debuts Boiling Point, a podcast focused on climate change and the environment in California and the American West. Indeed, it’s the same title as this newsletter. I hope you will sign up and tune in.

The premiere episode is available today. It discusses the future of Los Angeles in a time of increasing wildfires and how the millions of residents here can adapt to the escalating climate emergency. I had a discussion with Kelly Sanders, a professor of engineering at the University of California who recently acted as an advisor to President Biden on energy strategies.

She presented a persuasive argument that we can create more resilient urban areas and take the lead globally in eco-friendly energy. It isn’t simple. Transformation rarely occurs easily. However, according to her, Los Angeles doesn’t appear the same as it did before the ongoing turmoil.

“We are a highly reactive society,” she noted. “Every choice we make from now on must be made preemptively.”

New installments of Boiling Point will be released every Thursday. Share your opinions with us.

As usual, here’s what else is unfolding in the Western region.

Radioactive remnants from the blaze

Residents of Los Angeles will spend years addressing and recuperating from the wildfires of this month.

Governor Gavin Newsom has urged Congress to sanction $2.5 billion in disaster assistance, which encompasses $1.5 billion for preparing for forthcoming fires and other severe weather incidents, as reported by The Times’ Taryn Luna and Andrea Castillo. Some legislators are revisiting a proposal that would mandate oil corporations to financially contribute towards climate-related disasters. According to Tom Perkins of the Guardian, the sector effectively lobbied for an older version of the legislation to be annulled.

Moreover, a Times evaluation uncovered that California officials have “consistently refused to fund wildfire mitigation efforts in regions affected by the Palisades conflagration.” This is a report from my colleague Connor Sheets.

Utility firms could be held accountable for some expenses related to the wildfires. In the months prior to the Eaton fire, state representatives criticized Southern California Edison regarding its examination of power lines in high-risk fire zones, as shared by the Times’ Melody Petersen and Jenny Jarvey. Fire investigators are currently working to ascertain whether equipment from Edison ignited the Eaton fire, although the company claims it does not believe this to be accurate.

If Edison is ultimately deemed accountable, it remains a significant “what if,” but liabilities totaling billions could endanger California’s utilities’ stability, as Janey points out.

These are merely some of the ripple effects from the tragic blaze. A few additional points:

With any luck, the fires will prompt urgent discussions about, for instance, the optimal ways to coexist at the “wildland-urban interface.” My colleague Mary McNamara expresses: “As climate change drives Southern California into unpredictable cycles of floods and droughts, individuals are questioning the prudence of constructing or reconstructing communities near the more natural landscapes of Los Angeles. I’m beginning to join this sentiment.”

We should also address the issue that inmate firefighters, over 900 of whom have battled the LA wildfires, earn significantly less than the minimum wage. As The Times’ Nardine Saad highlights, Kim Kardashian deems it disgraceful.

Regrettably, much of the current discourse has been led by political rhetoric devoid of factual support. For instance, my colleague Michael Hiltzik elucidates why the assertions made by President-elect Trump and other Republican figures blaming a small fish in Northern California for the devastation in Los Angeles lack any scientific foundation.

Simultaneously, at his Senate confirmation hearing in Washington, D.C., Chris Wright, a fossil fuel industry executive chosen by President Trump to be the U.S. Secretary of Energy, was endorsed by Washington’s administration despite its detrimental climate policies. “The exaggeration surrounding wildfires is merely sensationalism,” he stated. The Post’s Maxine Joserow reports. Wright has consistently rejected any correlation between climate change and increasing wildfires, directly contradicting the scientific research.

political landscape

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Dawn rays illuminate the Chuckwalla Mountains on January 7th.

(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)

In one of his concluding actions as president, Joe Biden designated two national monuments in California, such as the 624,000-acre Chuckwalla National Monument to the south of Joshua Tree National Park. As reported by The Times’ Lila Seedman, the White House claims that Biden has safeguarded more land and water than any other president.

Tribal leaders and conservationists embraced the monument designation. As noted by The Washington Post’s Dino Grandoni, environmentalists are also optimistic that federal authorities will dismiss the concerns from Montana and Wyoming and uphold endangered species protections for grizzly bears in the western U.S. I am content with my decision.

However, in other situations, climate advocates expressed dissatisfaction with the Biden administration.

Biden’s appointees declined California’s request to prohibit the state from selling new diesel trucks, leading state officials to retract the request rather than face a likely refusal from the incoming Trump administration. (Russ Mitchell, Los Angeles Times) The Biden administration withdrew a plan to safeguard old-growth forests from logging following resistance from Republican leaders and the timber sector. (Matthew Brown, Associated Press)

Environmentalists had different news to celebrate. In a significant legal triumph, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to block lawsuits from California and other states demanding billions of dollars in climate damages from oil firms, as reported by the Times’ David G. Savage. The Supreme Court also refused to hear a lawsuit from Utah seeking oversight of 18.5 million acres of federal land, per Anastasia Huffam of the Salt Lake Tribune.

Elsewhere on public grounds, an enduring clash between cattle and native elk is (mostly) reaching a resolution at Northern California’s Point Reyes National Seashore. Most ranchers on this cherished coastline have consented to receive support from conservation organizations and cease their operations, John Beck reported in the Press Democrat.

Before we transition to the energy shift, allow me to share two narratives regarding water.

Energy transition

A puddle next to Controlled Thermal Resources’ lithium drilling rig, observed near the Salton Sea in 2021, is part of a wildlife refuge overseen by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.

(Gina Ferrazzi/Los Angeles Times)

There’s encouraging news for corporations racing to extract lithium from beneath Southern California’s Salton Sea.

Environmental justice advocates are contesting Imperial County officials for greenlighting one of the region’s initial lithium extraction initiatives, claiming the county has not conducted sufficient investigations into air contamination and water usage. They have lodged a lawsuit. Activists also fear that economically disadvantaged residents of Imperial Valley will not gain adequate financial returns.

Nonetheless, a judge dismissed the environmental objection, reports inewsource’s Philip Salata. The decision could have effects statewide and even globally. Lithium serves as a crucial component in electric vehicle batteries, and as we have highlighted in previous reports, much of it resides beneath the Salton Sea. Companies aiming to extract lithium are also planning to construct geothermal power facilities capable of producing renewable energy around the clock, unlike solar or wind energy.

In other positive developments for geothermal energy, Houston-based Ferbo Energy has acquired an additional $255 million in finance to establish an advanced geothermal electric plant, according to ESG Dive’s Zoya Mirza. For reference, I previously reported on Furbo’s groundbreaking agreement to supply power to Southern California Edison from its first major facility in Utah.

As is often the scenario,
“`there are several discrepancies between clean energy and environmental preservation.

The Biden administration has suggested safeguarding northern Nevada’s uncommon butterflies through the Endangered Species Act, which may create challenges for a proposed geothermal power facility. (Jennifer Solis, Nevada) Additionally, the administration has recommended a prohibition on lithium exploration near the Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge in Nevada. It’s uncertain whether Trump will follow through. (Las Vegas Review-Journal, Alan Harary)

In the meantime, federal authorities persist in announcing as much clean energy financing as feasible before President-elect Trump assumes office next week. One of the recent disclosures is a $1.76 billion conditional loan guarantee for a long-term storage initiative in Kern County, California. As reported by Canary Media’s Jeff St. John, the project will utilize “compressed air” technology to store substantial quantities of renewable energy.

For context, I covered the Willow Rock compressed air initiative two years ago. The project’s developer has secured a $775 million agreement to supply energy to a consortium of municipalities along California’s Central Coast.

Additionally, two more energy narratives:

President Biden executed an executive order mandating federal agencies to lease land for artificial intelligence data centers and clean energy initiatives to support those data centers. (Robert Walton, Utility Dive) Coal-powered plants owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, some of which are situated in the West, emit more nitrogen oxide pollution than any other major utility in the United States. This was disclosed in a Reuters investigation. (Tim McLaughlin, Joshua Schneier, Reuters)

One more item

In 1977, a procession of logging trucks reached Denver after transporting enormous peanuts sculpted from sequoia trees to Washington, D.C., to protest the enlargement of Sequoia National Park in Northern California.

(Denver Post via Getty Images)

Let’s conclude the final boiling point of the Biden administration with a flashback.

Before President Jimmy Carter broadened Redwood National Park, irritated loggers unloaded 9 tons of “peanuts” (in reality, colossal ones carved from giant sequoia trees) in demonstration. As reported by The Times’ Haley Brunson-Potts, Mr. Carter dismissed that proposal.

A simpler era? Or is it an indication of division? I’ll let you determine.

This is the most recent edition of Boiling Point, a newsletter focused on climate change and environmental issues in the American West. Sign up here to receive it directly to your inbox. Tune in to the Boiling Point podcast here.

For additional climate and environmental updates, follow @Sammy_Roth on X and @sammyroth.bsky.social on Bluesky.