Read the mask, says Newsom’s chief of staff + Ann Getty dies + CalPERS and coal

Good morning! It’s another newsy week. Here’s a look at what you should know.

FIRST UP: Attorney General Xavier Becerra is on the hot seat at The Sacramento Press Club today at noon. The Sacramento Bee’s Hannah Wiley will be asking him questions. You can catch the event at the Press Club Facebook page.

A DEFIANT WELCOME FOR TRUMP

When Gov. Gavin Newsom and President Donald Trump came together on Monday, courtesy was the order of the day.

Sure, Trump once again bagged California for its forest management practices, and sure Newsom made sure to remind Trump that the federal government owns 57% of California’s forests while just 3% is controlled by the state, but it’s safe to say the claws weren’t out for this visit.

Well, that’s not entirely true...

Newsom himself was the soul of civility, but some in his administration were more than willing to challenge the POTUS.

Take Natural Resources Secretary Wade Crowfoot, who took part in a headline-grabbing exchange with Trump over the future of climate change.

“It’ll start getting cooler, you just watch,” Trump said.

To which, Crowfoot responded, “I wish science agreed with you.”

Which led Trump to reply, “I don’t think science knows, actually.”

Crowfoot took to Twitter after the exchange to share a graph showcasing the rise in California’s average temperature, writing, “It actually won’t get cooler Mr. President. #ClimateChangeIsReal”

Then there was Newsom’s chief of staff, Ann O’Leary, who also took to Twitter on Monday with a picture worth a thousand words...well, actually one word: “Vote,” emblazoned prominently on her facemask.

“Masked and messaged for the day. Climate change is real. No more climate denial. #ClimateChange #CaliforniaFires,” she wrote.

ICYMI — The Sacramento Bee team was all over Monday’s presidential visit.

• Check out Sophia Bollag and Wiley’s reporting on Trump’s visit, complete with his claim that “exploding trees” are a problem for the Golden State.

• Wiley was there for the protests outside the event. Here’s what went down.

• Wiley and Michael McGough got the goods on multiple incidents of protesters being struck by vehicles, including one incident involving a California Highway Patrol cruiser.

• Tara Copp reported on President Trump honoring the crews of two California Army National Guard helicopters for their rescue of hundreds from the devastating Creek Fire.

• And Dale Kasler fact-checked Trump’s claim about the role of California’s forest management plays in causing wildfires.

‘END OF AN ERA’

Designer, philanthropist and California kingmaker Ann G. Getty died Monday, according to a statement released by the family.

“A native of Wheatland, California, Mrs. Getty devoted her intellect and curiosity to her lifelong pursuits in the fields of anthropology, publishing, interior design, and early childhood development as the founder of a San Francisco preschool,” the statement said.

Getty’s impact on California politics was remarked upon by several people on Twitter, including journalist and former Newsom staffer Yashar Ali.

“End of an era in San Francisco. Ann Getty was one of San Francisco’s most prominent philanthropists. For over four decades the Getty home has been the first stop for every major political candidate and foundation,” Ali wrote on Twitter. “Ann Getty was something like a surrogate mother to my former boss Gavin Newsom. Even though Gavin didn’t grow up with much, Ann and Gordon Getty helped to give him opportunities he wouldn’t have had otherwise.”

As CALmatters journalist Dan Walters noted on Twitter, “She also was a frequent hostess for bachelor Jerry Brown during his first governorship.”

IS CALPERS STILL IN COAL?

In 2017, the California Public Employees Retirement System announced it formally divested from the coal industry, complying with a 2015 state law, SB 185. Or did it?

An environmental advocacy group on Monday released a report calling attention to the pension fund’s investments in large energy companies that still operate coal-fired power plants and other parts of the coal supply chain.

The group, Fossil Free California, acknowledged the holdings don’t violate the state law, but argued CalPERS should pull out of the companies to better align with the spirit the law.

“Our analysis found that, despite a partial divestment in 2017, CalPERS’ portfolio still holds millions in thermal coal producers and coal-fired utilities, and continues to invest in companies that meet the law’s (highly constrained) definition of ‘coal investments,’” the report says.

In addition, the report argued that CalPERS has actually increased its investment in the coal industry, despite those coal investments losing value.

“We question why the fund is continuing to invest in an unprofitable industry, which the California State Legislature has identified for divestment and the International Panel on Climate Change(IPCC) has clearly indicated must be phased out entirely by 2050 to ensure a livable planet,” the report said.

CalPERS Chief Executive Marcie Frost in a written statement called the report’s “content and conclusions misleading.”

CalPERS almost as a rule opposes calls for it divest from legal industries, contending that doing so drives up risk for the pension fund by forcing it to look elsewhere for returns. Instead, it prefers to push for social and environmental change by using its clout as a large shareholder.

Frost in her response detailed a number of ways that CalPERS nudges corporations to account for global warming, such as by engaging with companies as a shareholder and pushing to acknowledge climate risk.

“Given the longstanding depth and breadth of CalPERS’ work on climate change, and our leading role in many initiatives your conclusion that we “have done nothing to improve” since 2017 is frankly, baffling,” Frost wrote.

The report found that though CalPERS in 2017 divested $14.7 million from 14 coal companies, an analysis of the agency’s June 2018 and 2019 portfolios shows that the company actually invested $1.5 billion more into the coal supply chain, for a 2019 total investment of $6.5 billion in coal-related holdings, “dwarfing their meager divestment, according to the report.

Specifically, the report said that CalPERS remained invested in companies which “do not technically qualify” for SB 185’s criteria for thermal coal companies, but which nevertheless earn a majority of their revenue from coal-related activities.

“SB 185’s simple ‘50% share of revenue from mining thermal coal’ criterion for determining a company’s coal-related operations is clearly insufficient for developing a meaningful coal policy that takes into account the financial, reputational and planetary risks of coal investments,” the report said.

DON’T MISS

In 1998, when Russell Lowery was looking for a job in the California Legislature, let’s just say he used a rather unorthodox method of gaining employment. The veteran political strategist tells his story via an amusing Twitter thread that you can find here.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“It actually won’t get cooler Mr. President.”

California Natural Resources Secretary Wade Crowfoot

Best of the Bee:

• That $300 a week extra unemployment money jobless Californians are getting? The five weeks you’re being paid for are now over. And while you may get another week sometime soon, there’s little hope for any more $300 weekly benefits beyond that, via David Lightman.

• A majority of people think Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden has more respect for the military than President Donald Trump, according to a new poll, via Summer Lin.

• Rep. Tom McClintock called the all-volunteer military a “dismal failure,” and likened the military draft to slavery, Democratic challenger Brynne Kennedy charges in a new ad, via David Lightman.