BREAKING Monthly earnings rise, payroll employment falls: jobs report
The number of vacant jobs in Canada increased in February, while monthly payroll employment decreased in food services, manufacturing, and retail trade, among other sectors.
It was just a few weeks ago that California Gov. Gavin Newsom called the oil industry the second most powerful force on earth, trailing only Mother Nature in its ability to bend the elements -- both physical and political -- to its will.
Yet on Tuesday, Newsom signed a new law that gives state regulators the power to penalize oil companies for making too much money, the first of its kind in the country. It's the type of legislation the oil industry might have crushed in the past. But on Monday, the bill cleared the state Assembly with only one Democrat voting against it.
"We proved we could finally beat big oil," Newsom said Tuesday after signing the bill.
The bill is the latest in a string of defeats for the oil industry in California, a state many don't think of as a fossil fuel powerhouse. But for decades, California was one of the leading oil producers in the United States with a bustling industry that was a key part of the state's economy. The state is now the nation's seventh-largest oil producer, according to federal data.
Oil production has been steadily declining since the late 1980s from a combination of exhausting supplies and the state's changing policy priorities. A state law requires California to be carbon neutral by 2045, meaning the state would remove as many carbon emissions from the atmosphere as it emits. The state's plan to do so would reduce demand for liquid petroleum by 94% by 2045.
State regulators have banned the sale of most new gas-powered cars in California by 2035. And last year, the state Legislature approved a bill limiting where new oil wells can be drilled, providing buffer zones around homes, schools and other sensitive sites.
The oil industry doesn't mind a David vs. Goliath comparison "as long as you think we're David and not Goliath," Kevin Slagle, spokesperson for the Western States Petroleum Association, said about the industry's reputation at the state Capitol. "Just look at the results the last couple of years on legislation."
The association, though, spent US$11.7 million lobbying lawmakers in the 2021-2022 legislative session, far more than any other single group. Chevron followed behind it, spending US$8.6 million, according to state campaign finance filings. The next closest single spender was the California Teachers Association, at US$7.1 million.
Likewise, the industry spent millions on campaign contributions in the 2022 election, supporting both Democrats and Republicans. Nearly one-third of all 120 seats in the Legislature are newly elected members.
Those donations did not always translate to favourable votes. New Assemblymember Esmerelda Soria, a Democrat who represents parts of the Central Valley, was the top beneficiary of money from a Western States Petroleum Association-affiliated committee. Soria voted Monday to support the legislation despite industry opposition.
The only Democrat to vote against the potential oil profits penalty was Assemblymember Jasmeet Bains, whose district includes Kern County, home of the state's oil industry. Her vote appeared to irk the Newsom administration.
Bains, a family medicine and addiction doctor who was first elected in November, tweeted a picture of the vote, saying: "Stand alone if you must, but always stand for truth."
Dana Williamson, Newsom's chief of staff, replied: "Alone and confused you shall likely remain."
Bains said she voted against the bill because during the height of the gasoline price spike last summer, the Newsom administration and legislative leaders refused to suspend the state's gas tax. They argued oil companies would not pass along the savings to drivers.
"What's to stop them from passing on the cost of this new tax with high prices at the pump?" Bains said. "That inconsistency is even more frustrating."
Though the industry couldn't stop the legislation, its presence could be felt in the final version, said Chris Micheli, a veteran California lobbyist who represents business clients but was not involved in the oil profits legislation. Newsom initially called for the Legislature to pass a new tax on oil company profits. Then he asked lawmakers to instead impose a penalty if oil company profits surpassed a certain threshold.
Finally, Newsom and lawmakers agreed to let the California Energy Commission decide, punting the decision to a five-person panel appointed by Newsom with the consent of the state Senate. The bill also creates a new state agency with the power to monitor the petroleum markets, including requiring oil companies to disclose lots of data about their pricing.
"The fact it took them three different substantive proposals to find something that would actually pass the Legislature I think goes to show the continued power and influence of the oil industry in this state," Micheli said.
Next year, the oil industry will be looking to exert its influence in another arena -- public opinion. The industry is challenging a new state law that bans drilling new oil wells nearby homes, schools and other sensitive areas. Voters will decide in 2024 whether to uphold the law.
"The partisan numbers of the two houses of the Legislature have dramatically changed," Micheli said, referring to Democrats now having total control over state government. "The broader business community is going to have to go to the voters on some issues of public policy."
The number of vacant jobs in Canada increased in February, while monthly payroll employment decreased in food services, manufacturing, and retail trade, among other sectors.
The Canadian Medical Association asserts the Liberals' proposed changes to capital gains taxation will put doctors' retirement savings in jeopardy, but some financial experts insist incorporated professionals are not as doomed as they say they are.
A West Virginia father is getting some sense of closure after authorities found the remains of his young daughter and her mother following a deathbed confession from the man believed to have fatally shot them nearly two decades ago.
For centuries, people have wondered what, if anything, might be lurking beneath the surface of Loch Ness in Scotland. When Canadian couple Parry Malm and Shannon Wiseman visited the Scottish highlands earlier this month with their two children, they didn’t expect to become part of the mystery.
Recent injected drugs like Wegovy and its predecessor, the diabetes medication Ozempic, are reshaping the health and fitness industries.
Two military horses that bolted and ran miles through the streets of London after being spooked by construction noise and tossing their riders were in a serious condition and required operations, a British government official said Thursday.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
It's no secret that spring can be a tumultuous time for Canadian weather, and as an unseasonably mild El Nino winter gives way to summer, there's bound to be a few swings in temperature that seem out of the ordinary. From Ontario to the Atlantic, though, this week is about to feel a little erratic.
The oldest living former major leaguer, Art Schallock turns 100 on Thursday and is being celebrated in the Bay Area and beyond as the milestone approaches.
A property tax bill is perplexing a small townhouse community in Fergus, Ont.
When identical twin sisters Kim and Michelle Krezonoski were invited to compete against some of the world’s most elite female runners at last week’s Boston Marathon, they were in disbelief.
The giant stone statues guarding the Lions Gate Bridge have been dressed in custom Vancouver Canucks jerseys as the NHL playoffs get underway.
A local Oilers fan is hoping to see his team cut through the postseason, so he can cut his hair.
A family from Laval, Que. is looking for answers... and their father's body. He died on vacation in Cuba and authorities sent someone else's body back to Canada.
A former educational assistant is calling attention to the rising violence in Alberta's classrooms.
The federal government says its plan to increase taxes on capital gains is aimed at wealthy Canadians to achieve “tax fairness.”
At 6'8" and 350 pounds, there is nothing typical about UBC offensive lineman Giovanni Manu, who was born in Tonga and went to high school in Pitt Meadows.
Kevin the cat has been reunited with his family after enduring a harrowing three-day ordeal while lost at Toronto Pearson International Airport earlier this week.