Nov. 18, 2025 6 AM PT

To the editor: Thank you for the uplifting article about California having sufficient battery capacity to generate one-third of the estimated capacity needed to reach its goal of 100% clean energy by 2045 (“Newsom touts California’s record battery energy gains at U.N. climate conference,” Nov. 13). I was shocked to learn the only region or jurisdiction generating more green energy than California is the second-largest economy in the world, China.

California now ranks as the world’s fourth-largest economy, with a GDP of more than $4.1 trillion — lower than only the U.S. overall, China and Germany. In 2024, California had a GDP growth rate of 6%, outpacing the top three.

Many love to be negative about California and its “ills,” but perhaps it’s time we started to speak out broadly about our accomplishments in the face of cutbacks nationally in green energy. We watch the federal government attempt to dismantle these initiatives to soothe the ego in the White House. Gov. Gavin Newsom has done a great job tickling President Trump’s insecurities — I hope he continues to do so with California’s achievements and green energy.

I believe strongly in the California Dream, and that California will lead the way for the United States to finally join the green revolution we are losing out on. In the great words of my hero Winston Churchill, “We shall fight on the beaches … we shall fight in the hills, we shall never surrender!”

Laurie S. Adami, Los Angeles

..

To the editor: Our governor could put some of his touted battery power to work preventing fires here in L.A. County and elsewhere. Many fires, including the 2018 Camp fire (Pacific Gas & Electric), the 2019 Kincade fire (PG&E) and potentially the 2019 Saddle Ridge fire (Southern California Edison) and this year’s Eaton fire (Edison), have been caused by wind-whipped transmission lines and their towers, especially in hills and canyons where winds are particularly severe and turbulent.

Given the devastation that has resulted, wouldn’t it be sensible to utilize some of that battery power near major destinations so that the use of the dangerous transmission lines could be reined in without interrupting service?

On Sept. 19, Newsom signed Senate Bill 254, allowing Southern California Edison to pass some of its losses onto ratepayers in surcharges. This, after the company possibly allowed its ratepayers’ homes to be destroyed and a few lives lost. Edison also expects to be reimbursed from the state’s wildfire fund, which customers pay into. Why can’t the governor and Legislature require that some of that money go to a battery system to take the most lethal risks out of the transmission system?

David Ewing, Venice