The Brief

Some of the most jarring ways the United States will feel the impacts of climate change began to reveal themselves this year.

The U.S. saw a record-setting 25 billion-dollar natural disasters. Maui experienced the country’s deadliest wildfire in the last century. Phoenix suffered temperatures over 110 degrees Fahrenheit for 31 consecutive days. Vermont endured epic floods. Despite all this, the Biden administration reneged on its promise and approved the Willow oil project in Alaska.

But this year was also filled with news of encouraging, inspiring, and groundbreaking progress in the U.S., not least of which was its joining a global agreement to transition away from fossil fuels and pledging with its biggest rival, China, to accelerate renewables.

Reaching net-zero emissions by 2050 will require decarbonizing the nation’s energy production, transportation, homes and buildings, and industries. Here’s a look back at some of the progress the U.S. made in 2023, seen through the lens of the stories Grist told.

Shoring up clean energy

Electricity generation accounts for about one-quarter of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. Eliminating them means transitioning to renewable energy. The country made new commitments to do so this year: In addition to the COP28 agreement, the U.S. and China bilaterally agreed to accelerate renewable energy deployment this decade.

That will require speeding up the rate at which such projects are permitted. The Biden administration proposed a rule to streamline this process while requiring agencies to consider environmental justice in their reviews. For its part, the Bureau of Land Management approved 50 clean energy projects on federal lands in the last two years, including a 732-mile transmission line across the West. It also proposed lowering the fees for wind and solar development by 80 percent.

States, tribes, and U.S. territories are trying to accelerate progress too: New Yorkers voted to allow its public power authority to build renewable energy projects, and Michigan’s legislature passed a package of bills requiring the state to run off 100 percent clean energy by 2040. Arizona’s Gila River Indian Community approved the nation’s first solar canal project, and Puerto Rico is receiving half a billion dollars to bring rooftop solar to those who need it most.

Speaking of solar, a recycling industry is cropping up to take in old photovoltaic panels. Washington state even passed a law requiring companies take back and recycle them upon retirement.

Retiring fossil fuels

Ramping up renewable energy capacity makes it possible to retire fossil fuel energy. Coal-fired electricity capacity in the U.S. is down 42 percent from its peak in 2011, and 40 percent of what remains is expected to retire by 2030.

Still, ditching coal requires supporting communities whose economies have long depended on it. Southwestern Virginia has been mining coal since 1880, but the area is beginning to benefit from solar. The industry is gaining trust by creating local jobs and building arrays for schools, saving them money on their utility bills. Even the mines are getting a second chance — scientists are finding rare species like the green salamander returning to areas once stripped for extraction.

Looking beyond old coal sites, hundreds of thousands of abandoned oil wells dot the country, polluting the air and water. A federal cleanup program is directing more money than ever before toward capping these wells while creating jobs.

Still, the country broke its oil production records this year. But there are efforts to restrain that boom: New Mexico issued a moratorium on new oil and gas leases near schools and daycare centers, and the Interior Department banned them within a 10-mile radius of the state’s Chaco Culture National Historical Park. The Environmental Protection Agency introduced sweeping regulations that it says could reduce methane emissions from oil and gas by 80 percent.

Capturing carbon

Despite the nation’s best efforts to stop emissions, research shows that limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius will also require removing hundreds of gigatons of atmospheric carbon dioxide. Whether to do that with machines or through natural solutions is a matter of intense debate.

Opponents of technologies like direct-air capture warn the oil and gas industry could use them to justify prolonging fossil fuel use. But the Biden administration is supporting direct air capture by sending $1 billion to two planned facilities on the Gulf Coast each designed to initially capture up to 1 million metric tons of CO2 annually.

Meanwhile, we’re gaining a better understanding of how natural solutions can promote sequestration. Wetlands, for example, can serve as vast carbon sinks. Louisiana has begun a $3 billion project to restore them, hoping to bring back 21 square miles of land to the coast. Trees are also powerful carbon keepers, and restoring them can cool urban heat islands. As part of a tree-equity “collaborative,” Seattle pledged to plant 8,000 trees and 40,000 seedlings in an effort to cover one-third of the city in tree canopy by 2037.

Scientists are even finding that returning animals to their native ecosystems can help sequester carbon in the soil. The Biden administration is funding the restoration of American bison, which help grasslands retain carbon in the soil as they graze and stomp.

Reimagining mobility

Some of the most encouraging signs of progress this year came from electric vehicles. Transportation accounts for nearly one-third of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, and most of that pollution comes from cars and trucks. People in the U.S. bought more than 1 million EVs this year, and the country could have 30 million of them by 2030.

To manage this transition, the nation needs hundreds of thousands of public charging ports, and it is racing to build them. A $5 billion federal program is underway to install them along the nation’s highways. California hit 10,000 public EV fast chargers this year, and Walmart announced plans to build its own network. Tesla is opening its vast charging network to other automakers.

EVs won’t just change how we get around — their batteries can transform how we power our homes and even the grid. When those batteries retire, they could lead a productive second life as storage for clean energy before being recycled at one of the numerous recycling facilities being built all over the country.

While 95 percent of the critical materials in batteries are infinitely recyclable, we need to reduce our reliance on cars to minimize how much of these materials we extract from the earth. Electric buses or new passenger rail lines like the one that opened in Honolulu will help, as will micromobility programs like a nonprofit community-led bikeshare in New Orleans.

Building better

Heating, cooling, and powering homes and other buildings takes a lot of energy. Although emerging technologies can lower the impacts of doing so, the first place to start is improving the efficiency of those structures so they require less power in the first place.

People nationwide discovered efficiency hacks like insulated shades and exterior window awnings as they battled extreme heat. The Lower Sioux in Minnesota are creating sustainable home insulation using “hempcrete,” which they grow and process in their own facility.

But even the most efficient homes still need some heating and cooling. That’s why 20 governors went all-in on heat pumps, pledging to install 20 million of them by 2030. They can take lessons from Maine, which has the highest per-capita adoption in the country. In 2024, states will start administering Inflation Reduction Act rebates on electric appliances like heat pumps, making them more affordable. Of course, installing them will require training a whole lot of electricians. And while Berkeley, California’s ban on natural-gas in new buildings was struck down in court this April, other cities are finding workarounds to the ruling, like requiring apartment buildings to reach net-zero emissions by 2050.

Some researchers are looking at mobile homes as a climate solution, because prefabricated homes can come equipped with solar panels and heat pumps. An equity-driven program in Ithaca, New York, is installing them in already existing mobile homes.

Cleaning up dirty business 

As consumers make their own efforts toward decarbonization, it’s becoming easier for them to see what commitments businesses are making toward net-zero. Although a federal requirement that they disclose greenhouse gas emissions is still forthcoming, California passed its own climate disclosure laws requiring companies that make over $1 billion annually to reveal all of their greenhouse gas emissions and the content of the carbon offsets they buy.

Companies that rely on or produce plastics also experienced more pressure to improve their practices. New York State is suing PepsiCo for its role in polluting the Buffalo River watershed. Businesses that over utilize single-use packaging are getting competition from zero-waste entrepreneurs who offer customers better options for refilling containers like shampoo and detergent bottles.

There’s still a long way to go on decarbonizing some of the country’s most polluting industries, like steel and concrete. The race for green steel is on, as evidenced by big investments in ideas for removing coal from its production. Startups are also working on carbon-negative concrete and even formulas that store carbon inside the material.

Even the U.S. cattle industry could see disruption, since the USDA approved the sale of lab-grown meat. Perhaps an even bigger threat to Big Ag? Teenagers. A Los Angeles teen sued her school district and the USDA over their milk mandates.

Which leads us to perhaps the most encouraging solutions story of the year: The mobilization of young people who are fighting for their right to a safe, healthy, and promising future. Kids won big in Held v. Montana, which could bode well for the 14 youth in Hawaiʻi who are taking their state’s transportation department to court, and the 18 young Californians who just filed a lawsuit against the Environmental Protection Agency for discriminating against children by not protecting them from pollution. With kids like these leading the climate movement, next year could have much more to celebrate.

California students are likely to see fewer cell phones and more gender-neutral bathrooms next year as new state education laws go into effect.

Protecting students from immigration raids was a priority for state legislators this year, resulting in several new laws, including one prohibiting school staff from allowing immigration officers to enter campuses or providing student or family information.

The most controversial of the new laws is one meant to target antisemitism, although amendments made during the legislative session resulted in a bill that defines discrimination more broadly.

New Office of Civil Rights to open

Assembly Bill 715 establishes a state Office of Civil Rights to help school districts identify and prevent discrimination based on antisemitism, gender, religious and LGBTQ status. It will also handle questions and complaints.

The legislation, along with Senate Bill 48, creates four positions to track and report discrimination. These positions will be appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Senate after Jan. 1.

“California is taking action to confront hate in all forms,” said Gov. Gavin Newsom in a statement. “At a time when antisemitism and bigotry are rising nationwide and globally, these laws make clear: our schools must be places of learning, not hate.”

The legislation has been controversial, with some organizations saying it infringes on academic freedom and prioritizes the rights of certain students over others. The California Teachers Association and California Faculty Association have said the legislation could result in the censoring of educators.

Parents can’t be jailed for truant kids

Beginning Jan. 1, parents of chronically truant children will no longer be fined or face jail time.

Assembly Bill 461 amends the state’s Penal Code to remove a section that makes it a criminal offense for a parent to have a child who is chronically truant, which is defined as missing school without a valid excuse for 10% or more of the school year.

California law requires students age 6 to 18 to attend school.

The Penal Code called for a fine of up to $2,000 or up to a year in jail for parents whose children habitually missed school.

“Criminalizing parents for their children′s truancy ignores the root causes of absenteeism and only deepens family hardships, especially as many immigrant families now fear sending their children to school,” said Assemblymember Patrick Ahrens, D-Sunnyvale, in a statement. “(This bill) ensures support and resources to keep students in school and on track for success.”

Gender-neutral bathroom required

Beginning on July 1, all California school campuses, except those that have only one bathroom for male students and one bathroom for female students, are required to have a gender-neutral bathroom.

Senate Bill 760, which was signed by the governor in 2023, requires that posted signs identify the designated bathroom as being open to all genders and that it be kept unlocked and available to all students.

“SB 760 is a measure that aims to create a safe and inclusive environment not only for non-binary students, but to all students, by requiring each public school to establish at least one all-gender restroom,” said former Sen. Josh Newman, author of the bill.

Cellphone use to be limited

School districts, county offices of education, and charter schools have until July 1 to adopt a policy limiting the use of cellphones during school hours.

Assembly Bill 3216, renamed the Phone-Free School Act, was approved in an effort to curb classroom distractions, bullying, and addiction to the devices. At least five other states, Florida, Indiana, Louisiana, South Carolina and Ohio, have similar laws.

Last year, Gov. Gavin Newsom sent a letter to school district leaders urging them to restrict cellphones. Excessive smartphone use increases anxiety, depression and other mental health issues in children, he said. 

Shielding schools from immigration raids

Protecting students from immigration raids was a priority for legislators this year, resulting in several pieces of new legislation.

Assembly Bill 49, known as the California Safe Haven Schools Act, was passed amid a series of immigration raids that have resulted in the arrest of thousands of people. It went into effect as an urgency measure in September.

The bill prohibits school staff from allowing immigration enforcement officers on school campuses or sharing student or family information with them without a warrant or court order. School districts have until March 1 to update school policies to align with the law.

Senate Bill 98, also effective in September, requires leaders of school districts, charter schools, universities and colleges to notify staff and parents when immigration officers are on a campus. School safety plans should include an official procedure for making these notifications by March 1.

This bill, which is in effect until Jan. 1, 2031, does not prevent governing boards from establishing stronger standards or protections.

Protecting preschools, preparing families

Assembly Bill 495, known as the Family Preparedness Plan Act, expands the pool of relatives that can be authorized to make decisions and care for children if parents are detained by immigration authorities or deported.

Beginning Jan. 1, all adults related to a child by blood or adoption, within five generations, could be authorized to enroll a child in school or make decisions about their medical care while on campus.

The bill also permits courts to appoint a person, nominated by a parent, to have joint custody of a child if they are detained or deported by immigration officials.

It also requires school districts to provide information to parents and guardians regarding the right of children to have a free public education.

The legislation also extends the requirements of AB 49 to child care facilities and preschools, prohibiting staff from collecting information or documents regarding the immigration status of children or their family. Instead, they are required to report requests for this information to the California Department of Education and the state Attorney General’s Office.

Easing the road to college

This year, California high school students will find it easier to be admitted to a California State University campus.

Senate Bill 640 establishes a direct admission program that sends mailers to high school students who are eligible to attend participating campuses, informing them of that status. Qualified students must have completed all the required coursework and maintained the necessary grade point average.

“Tens of thousands of California students are fully qualified to go to CSU, but don’t jump the hurdles of the admissions process,” said Sen. Christopher Cabaldon, D-Napa, the law’s author. “At the same time, nearly half of CSU’s campuses have substantial available enrollment capacity and need more students to sustain their high quality academic programs.”

The legislation also requires the California Community Colleges system to promote the CSU dual admission transfer program, which guarantees CSU admission to eligible community college students.

Student IDs to include suicide hotline number

Student identification cards issued at California public secondary schools and institutions of higher education after July 1 will include the phone number for The Trevor Project, a crisis and suicide prevention hotline for LGBTQ youth.

Suicide is the second leading cause of death among young people age 10 to 14, and the third leading cause of death for 14- to 25-year-olds, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“In today’s political climate, LGBTQ+ students face significant levels of bullying, harassment, and discrimination — negatively impacting their mental health and academic success,” according to Assemblymember Mark González, author of the bill. “AB 727 will provide critical resources to support LGBTQ+ youth in crisis and those who have experienced harassment.”

Early education to take seats on board

The next eligible seat that comes open on the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing in 2026 must go to an early childhood education teacher, according to Assembly Bill 1123.

The bill calls for one of the six teacher representatives on the commission to hold a child development teacher permit. It also reduces the number of public representatives on the board from three to two to allow the governor to appoint someone who teaches early childhood development at a university or college.

The commission, which governs the licensing and preparation of the state’s teachers, is made up of 15 voting members, including the state superintendent of public instruction, six practicing teachers, a school administrator, a school board member, a school counselor, a faculty member from a teacher preparation program, a human resources administrator, and three public representatives.

The early childhood representatives will be seated after the next eligible seat is vacated or a representative’s term ends.

In the 60 years since California first began issuing child development permits to early childhood educators, there has never been a voting member on the commission, which governs their licensure and preparation, said Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi, D-Torrance, author of the bill.

In 2025, California became the frontline of a federal playbook for more militarized immigration enforcement.

Raids on California streets and lawsuits that followed helped rewrite the ground rules for how agents can operate. What began as before-dawn operations in Golden State farm towns quickly expanded into a broader nationwide strategy: surprise workplace and neighborhood sweeps and roving patrols miles from the border.

CalMatters reporters across California documented how tactics first seen in Kern County, such as warrantless traffic stops and a heavy reliance on appearance-based profiling, spread statewide and then across the country. The U.S. Supreme Court has upheld these methods.

Early in the second Trump administration, the federal government sent Marines to the border, citing a crisis. Those troops have since quietly gone home.

Hundreds of National Guard troops were deployed to Los Angeles following civil unrest about immigration arrests. President Donald Trump threatened to send forces to the Bay Area, then backed off. State officials objected, while federal leaders characterized the moves as necessary. The standoff deepened long-running tensions between California and the White House over the state’s sanctuary policy and federal authority.

All this fell most heavily on families with deep roots in California. CalMatters found deportations increasingly reached people who have decades-long residence, U.S.-citizen children, stable employment, and even those following legal pathways. ICE detained people at green-card interviews and routine check-ins. The changes destabilized school systems, the agricultural economy, and health care.

A federal lawsuit over a deaf asylum seeker’s prolonged detention exposed gaps in medical care and disability accommodations in immigration facilities. Under Trump, asylum seekers with pending claims lost protection from arrest. A new system is emerging where people trying to follow the rules are easier targets than those evading them. Detention centers drew scrutiny as local authorities shied away from conducting health and safety inspections, while advocates reported worsening conditions inside.

A quieter but equally consequential trend has emerged: The immigrant population shrank. Love them or hate them, Trump’s immigration policies were achieving the administration’s goals. Pew Research found the national immigration population shrank by about 1.4 million people in the first half of 2025, the first decline in half a century. Economists warned about slower growth. State leaders weighed long-term impacts on the workforce, schools, and social service systems.

Enforcement grew more data-driven. Drone surveillance expanded in urban areas, and advocates warned about new uses of artificial intelligence to identify deportation targets and analyze asylum and visa applicants’ digital histories.

2026 outlook

California expects further interior enforcement, additional legal battles over sanctuary laws, funding, and renewed attempts to expand detention capacity. School districts and employers are preparing for more mass removals, while lawmakers are considering new privacy protections.

This article was originally published on CalMatters and was republished under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives license.

Days after 2025 began, two fires scorched through Los Angeles neighborhoods, the most destructive in California’s history. The Eaton and Pacific Palisades fires also renewed attention to issues such as utility oversight, insurance coverage, and the broader challenges of wildfire planning in a changing climate. And their harms rippled outward, leaving thousands of low-income workers and immigrants without jobs. 

But California found pushing its climate agenda forward to be an uphill battle this year: Ambitious climate goals faced a hostile federal government economic pressures.

Anticipating opposition from President Donald Trump, state leaders chose to abandon important clean-air rules before he even took office, including plans to phase out diesel trucks and transition to cleaner trains. Nearing mid-year, Trump and his allies in Congress blocked the state’s clean-car mandate, a blow to emissions reduction plans.

Nevertheless, as part of budget negotiations, Gov. Gavin Newsom sought to reauthorize California’s landmark cap-and-trade program, launching a debate that would resolve in the final hours of the legislative session.

Blaming climate and environmental regulation, Phillips 66 and Valero followed through on plans to shutter oil refineries, raising concerns about gas prices and the future of the state’s oil industry. In Wilmington, Phillips 66 is now closed. A high-profile explosion at Chevron’s El Segundo refinery nearby underscored persistent safety and environmental risks tied to remaining facilities.

By the end of the legislative session, these issues converged, as legislators passed a six-bill deal that included a plan to boost oil drilling, relief for ratepayers who fund wildfire mitigation, and an extension of the now rebranded “cap-and-invest” program.

As lawmakers passed sweeping reforms to California’s landmark environmental review law, critics warned exemptions may make it easier for potentially high-polluting advanced manufacturing facilities to take root in already vulnerable areas.

Longstanding conflicts over water continued to simmer this year. The governor continued pressing to fast-track a $20 billion tunnel around the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to send more water south — to the outrage of Delta lawmakers. And dry conditions led to dire projections for the Colorado River, a vital water supply for Southern California. They ramped up the tensions — and the urgency — as negotiators from states that rely on the river tried, and failed, to reach a deal portioning out water supplies.

2026 Outlook

Affordability, the cost of climate adaptation, and pollution harms, in the skies and in the waste stream, continue to be key issues for California. As Gov. Gavin Newsom’s balancing act continues, the state will navigate tensions with environmental justice advocates unhappy with compromises. Emerging risks include the cost – in energy and water – of data centers, and the environmental consequences of the battery economy.

This article was originally published on CalMatters and was republished under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives license.