Top Lawmaker Defends California Emissions Law Over Newsom Qualms

A top California lawmaker will oppose weakening the state’s first-in-the-nation emissions law, setting up a potential conflict with Gov. Gavin Newsom, who has said the timeline for implementing the measure is “likely infeasible.”

“There’s absolutely no need to delay implementation further, and I’m certainly not going to support delaying implementation further, nor will our coalition,” said state Sen. Scott Wiener (D) in an interview.

The measure (S.B. 253) requires companies with more than $1 billion in annual revenue operating in the state to report certain greenhouse gas emissions starting at some time in 2026. The exact date will ...