Climate change, electric vehicles and Delta tunnel among the focuses of gubernatorial candidate forum

The schism between Democratic environmental ideals and California voters’ concern about affordability, including the price of gasoline, was on full display at an environmental policy forum featuring some of the state’s leading Democratic gubernatorial candidates Wednesday.

Democrats have questioned the economic impact Californians could face as a result of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s goal of transitioning the state to zero-emission vehicles, a policy that would ban the sale of new gasoline-powered cars and trucks by 2035. The Trump administration has attempted to undo that policy by canceling federal tax credits for the purchase of such vehicles and invalidating California’s strict emissions standards.

“It’s absolutely true that it’s not affordable today for many people to choose an electric vehicle,” said former Rep. Katie Porter of Irvine. “It’s the fact that, especially with federal subsidies expiring and Trump’s cuts, an electric vehicle often costs $8,000 or $10,000 more. If we want people to choose electric vehicles, we need to close that gap.”

Porter and his Democratic rival Xavier Becerra, who served as Health and Human Services secretary under former President Biden, said that as governor they would focus on making low-emission vehicles more affordable and practical. Porter said the cost of buying a zero-emission car should be comparable to those running on gasoline, and Becerra said California needs to have enough charging stations so drivers “don’t have to worry about being able to get to their destination.”

“We know our future lies in clean energy and making our environment as clean as possible,” Becerra said. “We need to make it affordable for families.”

Porter and Becerra joined two other Democrats in the 2026 California gubernatorial race — former hedge fund founder turned environmental advocate Tom Steyer and Rep. Eric Swalwell of Dublin — at the Pasadena event hosted by California Environmental Voters, UC Berkeley’s Center for Law, Energy & the Environment, the Climate Center Action Fund and the Natural Resources Defense Council Action Fund. Democrats were largely in agreement on issues such as combating climate change, accelerating the transition to clean energy and protecting California’s water resources.

The coalition invited the six candidates with the greatest support according to recent public opinion polls. Republicans Chad Bianco, the Riverside County sheriff, and Steve Hilton, a former Fox News commentator, did not respond to an invitation to participate in the forum, moderated by Sammy Roth, the author of Climate-Colored Goggles on Substack, and Louise Bedsworth, executive director of the UC Berkeley center.

Newsom, who has acknowledged he is considering a run for president in 2028, is serving the final year of his second term as governor and is barred from running again.

The state’s high cost of living, including high gasoline prices, continues to pose a political vulnerability for Democrats who support California’s progressive environmental agenda.

In another contentious issue facing the state, most Democratic candidates on Wednesday distanced themselves from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta Tunnel, a massive and controversial proposal aimed at moving water to Southern California and the Central Valley. Although it has gone through various iterations, the concept dates back to Gov. Jerry Brown’s first foray as governor of California more than four decades ago.

Despite Newsom’s efforts to expedite the project, it has been stalled by environmental reviews and lawsuits. Another legal hurdle was cleared this month when a state appeals court rejected the state’s plan to fund the 45-mile tunnel.

Swalwell, Porter and Steyer argued that there are faster and cheaper ways to collect and deliver water to thirsty areas of California.

“We need to move much faster than the Delta Tunnel ever could to solve our water problems,” Steyer said, adding that data and technology could be deployed to more efficiently deliver water to farms.

Swalwell said he did not support the project “as it is currently designed” and proposed covering “400 miles of waterworks” with solar panels.

At Wednesday’s forum, Becerra also made a gaffe by discussing Californians’ rooftop solar programs with a word that some consider an insult to Jewish people.

“We need to go after the scammers,” Becerra said. “We know there are people out there scamming families when they talk about rooftop solar, so we need to make sure that doesn’t happen so they can benefit from solar.”

The term is not considered derogatory like other anti-Semitic slurs and has been commonly used in recent decades, a Becerra campaign spokesperson noted after the event.

“Secretary Becerra never thought the word was offensive and he certainly meant no disrespect to anyone,” a campaign spokesperson said. “He was talking about protecting the hardest-working, lowest-paid Californians, who are often exploited by unscrupulous actors.”