While in Beijing last month, Gov. Jerry Brown publicly promoted the fight against climate change. Just as important was the quiet attendance of AES, a major builder of fossil-fuel power plants in California.

Was the governor making plans to cut greenhouse-gas emissions, or was he making deals to build more climate-warming natural gas plants? Unfortunately, California’s transparency laws don’t ensure the disclosure of such backroom conversations.

Last week, the traffic cop for the state’s electric grid, the California Independent System Operator (CAISO), issued its first “Flex Alert” of the summer in the face of rising temperatures. CAISO urged the public to turn off unneeded lights, do laundry off peak and set the thermostat high on June 20 and June 21 "to help avoid power outages" as consumption stressed the grid.