One of the U.S.’s longest standing pieces of environmental legislation, credited with helping save rare whales from extinction, is the subject of an effort for cutbacks from Republican lawmakers who now feel they have the political will to do so.

“Just got off the phone with President Trump who has approved our Major Disaster Declaration request. White House spokesman Judd Deere previously said California’s disaster declaration request “was not supported by the relevant data” needed for approval. Newsom asked for the major disaster declaration on Sept. 28 to cover fires in Fresno, Los Angeles, Madera, Mendocino, San Bernardino, San Diego and Siskiyou counties. The White House said Trump quickly approved wildfire relief that was supported by damage estimates. PG&E equipment is being examined in connection with the Zogg Fire in Northern California, and Southern California Edison equipment is under scrutiny in the Bobcat Fire near Los Angeles.

Pacific Gas & Electric has cut power to portions of Northern California hoping to prevent wildfires during hot, windy weather throughout the region. Some restorations began Thursday afternoon, and by evening the number of customers without power was about 30,000, the utility said. Many in wine country north of San Francisco were feeling drained by what seems like a never-ending wildfire season in the region. ___This story has been corrected to show massive power outages happened in 2019, not 2018, and affected 2 million people, not 5 million. ___Associated Press writer Jocelyn Gecker in San Francisco also contributed to this story.