Major corporations from oil and gas companies to retail giants would have to disclose their direct greenhouse gas emissions as well as those that come from activities like employee business travel under legislation passed Monday by California lawmakers, the most sweeping mandate of its kind in the nation.
"We are out of time on addressing the climate crisis," Democratic Assemblymember Chris Ward said. "This will absolutely help us take a leap forward to be able to hold ourselves accountable."The legislation was one of the highest profile climate bills in California this year, racking support from major companies that include Patagonia and Apple, as well as Christiana Figueres, former executive secretary of the United Nations convention behind the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement.
Newsom declined to share his position on the bill when asked last month. His administration's Department of Finance opposed it in July, saying it would likely cost the state money that isn't included in the latest budget. Newsom has advanced California's role as a trendsetter on climate policies by transitioning the state away from gas-powered vehicles and expanding wind and solar power.
California has a lot of big companies that export everything from electronics to transportation equipment to food, and most every major company in the country does business in the state, which is home to about one in nine Americans. Newsom often boasts about the state's status as one of the world's largest economies.