Jerry Brown: Oil lobby gutted climate bill

Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de Leon, D-Los Angeles, accompanied by Calif. Gov. Jerry Brown, left, and Assembly Speaker Toni Atkins, D-San Diego, unseen, announce he is scaling back a proposal to address climate change, during a news conference, Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2015, in Sacramento, Calif. Citing opposition from the oil industry, de Leon said he was dropping a mandate in his bill, SB350, that the state cut petroleum use by 50 percent. less Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de Leon, D-Los Angeles, accompanied by Calif. Gov. Jerry Brown, left, and Assembly Speaker Toni Atkins, D-San Diego, unseen, announce he is scaling back a proposal to address ... more Photo: Rich Pedroncelli, AP Photo: Rich Pedroncelli, AP Image 1 of / 8 Caption Close Jerry Brown: Oil lobby gutted climate bill 1 / 8 Back to Gallery

SACRAMENTO — Gov. Jerry Brown and legislative leaders said a well-financed oil industry won a fight over the state’s efforts to pass legislation that would drastically reduce California’s gas consumption. But the feisty governor pledged to keep pushing for climate change policies that reduce the state’s dependance on oil.

Brown joined Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de León, D-Los Angeles, and Assembly Speaker Toni Atkins, D-San Diego, to announce Wednesday that a key component of SB350 would be gutted after it became clear that they didn’t have the votes to pass the legislation in the Assembly.

SB350 will no longer require the state to cut petroleum use in half over the next 15 years, but other components of the bill remain. The bill still calls for the state to boost energy efficiency in buildings by 50 percent and requires California to get half of its electricity from renewable sources by 2030.

“Oil has won a skirmish,” Brown said. “But they lost a bigger battle, because I am more determined than ever to make our regulatory regime work for the people of California.”

With the legislative session ending Friday, another key measure called for by Brown — a plan to better finance maintenance for roads, highways and bridges — also hit a roadblock. Atkins said it is unlikely the Legislature will reach a deal on the state’s transportation needs in a special session called for by Brown and will instead convene groups to work on the issue into the fall.

Brown said the remaining three years of his term is enough time to address issues facing the state. When it comes to the fight against Big Oil, he said, his “zeal has been intensified to a maximum degree.”

SB350 passed the state Senate in June, but faced significant resistance in the Assembly, where Democrats found themselves fighting their own to move the bill forward. A bloc of moderate Democratic Assembly members said they were concerned that low-income communities would be saddled with higher prices on gas and electricity if the measure succeeds.

Brown said he met with Chevron representatives who wanted the state to reduce the authority of the Air Resources Board by turning over its decision-making powers to the Legislature, which the governor was unwilling to do.

A second climate change bill, SB32, failed in the Assembly on Tuesday in a 25-33 vote after many Democrats did not vote. That legislation would have required California to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent from 1990s levels by 2030, and by 80 percent from 1990s levels by 2050.

The target expands on the landmark AB32 California Global Warming Solutions Act the Legislature adopted in 2006 that requires the state to reduce carbon emissions to 1990s levels by 2020. The state is on target to meet that goal.

Melody Gutierrez is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: mgutierrez@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @MelodyGutierrez