Debra Kahn is California policy editor at POLITICO where she oversees California Climate, our daily newsletter about how the politics of climate change are shaping the state’s future. Debra’s team of reporters cover pressing policy issues confronting the state including energy, transportation, the environment and climate change. Her team specializes in delivering timely, essential news to subscribers who rely on the information to do their jobs in government, business and advocacy. She is a sought-after expert in those topics, with 15 years of experience reporting on and editing related stories. She frequently moderates panels for major conferences across the state and interviews the personalities shaping California's nation-leading environmental policies. She has edited a series of must-read dispatches on how the state is preparing for a potential second Trump presidency. She also spearheads coverage of billionaire tech leader Elon Musk’s regulatory battles in California. Debra rejoined the California team, where she’d previously been the bureau chief, in 2023 after serving as deputy sustainability editor for POLITICO. She was a founding member of the Sacramento policy squad as California environment and transportation reporter, covering climate, water, air pollution, electric vehicles, fuel economy, high-speed rail and wildfires. She came to POLITICO in 2019 after 13 years at E&E News, 10 of those in Cali.