The countdown is on: Energy and environment battles to watch before Sacramento closes out its session

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Set us as preferred With only days left in the legislative session, California lawmakers are racing through dozens of high-stakes bills that will shape energy and environmental priorities at the state and federal levels.There are fights over funding for climate projects, utility protections from wildfire liability and controversial shortcuts on environmental reviews, all against the backdrop of Trump-era rollbacks.

The legislative session ends Monday.Some experts said they hope lawmakers in Sacramento will use the remaining days to push back against fossil fuel interests and deregulation favored by corporations.Polling shows voters are “connecting the dots between cost increases, corporate greed and weather disasters,” said Shannon Olivieri Hovis, chief strategy officer at the nonprofit California Environmental Voters.One key item centers on the state’s primary pot of money for climate and environmental programs, known as the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund.

It is fed by California’s cap-and-invest program, which allows large polluters to buy and sell allowances for their greenhouse gas emissions.State lawmakers voted last year to extend the cap-and-invest program through 2045 and created a new three-tier system for deciding how its proceeds are allocated.The first two tiers include core state commitments such as the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, a tax credit for manufacturers and the high-speed rail.

But recipients of Tier 3 funds — which include long-standing programs for affordable housing, low-carbon transit, clean drinking water and community air pollution — are unhappy with the new structure because it reduces their allocation if there isn’t enough money after funding Tiers 1 and 2.Many of these programs rely heavily or exclusively on the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund.

Lawmakers a...