Democrats pushed climate action. Then utility bills skyrocketed. [Video]

“Californians are fed up,” said Democratic state Assemblymember Marc Berman at a recent news conference in Sacramento. “My constituents are pissed off. I know because they told me over and over again at every community coffee that I had in the fall and in the winter. Their rates keep going up.”

Lawmakers there and in other Democratic states with nation-leading climate objectives — like New York and Massachusetts — are scrambling to make their transitions from fossil fuels affordable before they face an all-out ratepayer revolt. The problem is more pressing in an election year when Republicans say Democrats don’t pay enough attention to Californians’ ability to afford the high costs of daily life.

In California, the latest flashpoint is a proposal to restructure utility bills to make them more like the state’s progressive tax system, where the wealthy pay the most. Nearly every Democratic state lawmaker voted for the proposal two years ago, …