Written by Julianne Foster
Heat waves across California have placed Gov. Gavin Newsom in a position to make more unsteady choices on top of his desperate tries to hold together a crumbling economy. Around two million Californians were subject to hour blackouts as Newsom initiated rolling power outages for the first time in nearly two decades.
According to the California Independent System Operator, which runs the grid across the whole state, the reasons for the power outages are their inability to keep the power on during “record breaking heat” that has been plaguing California recently. They are also struggling to adapt to having two out-of-service power plants.
Ironically, the demand for electricity peaked at only 46,800 megawatts on Friday, which is less than the record of 50,270 in July 2006, when even the deaths of 140 Californians from the heat did not trigger the state to conduct rolling blackouts. The decisions of Newsom and several of the public utilities serve as an embarrassment to the supposably innovative and technological state of California in the year 2020.
Californians are resilient. We can handle anything that comes our way.
But it’s not right to ask people to stay at home, make them wait months for an unemployment check, and cut off their electricity — all at the same time. It’s unsustainable.https://t.co/bz0M7ao66j
— Kevin Faulconer (@Kevin_Faulconer) August 18, 2020
High-ranking officials and advisors on Newsom’s staff have been resigning as they struggle to hold control over the fires and the pandemic. Additionally, Newsom’s relationship with the State Legislature has been tainted with his abuse of executive power in response to the pandemic when lawmakers were stuck at home due to stay-at-home orders.
Currently, Newsom is facing a big movement across the state from residents and politicians to have him recalled, a promising prospect for residents since the last time a California governor was recalled was in 2003, when Democrat Gray Davis was forced to relinquish his office. Sure enough, California voters elected a Republican, Arnold Schwarzenegger, to take his place.
Gov. Newsom is making a lot of contradictory decisions surrounding the lockdowns on the economy, the education system, and mishandling of technological decisions in response to the heat waves. The previous push to recall Newsom fell short, but this sequence of failures may cause enough impetus for Californians to say enough.
