But the comment took Democratic Senate President pro Tem Darrell Steinberg by surprise. He said he intends to continue fighting for his legislation that makes changes to CEQA.
"I don't know why the Governor would say that," said Steinberg. "We're hard at work on the issue and I look forward to maybe spending a little time with him when he gets back to talk about it."
The Governor made his comments while on his visit to China.
Steinberg said his legislation finds a middle ground between those who think CEQA shouldn't change and those who think it needs to be revamped.
Lawmakers have introduced more than a dozen bills that would make changes to the environmental law.