California was a leader in the fight to limit climate change from 2000-2018. In the last four years it has fallen off. In 2022, though, there are some strong climate bills that have a good chance of making it through the Legislature. There are bills on sea level rise, zero waste, CalPERS and CalSTRS divestment, fracking, biomass, and plastics.
Below are bills the 350 Humboldt Legislative Committee has chosen as our highest priorities. Please pick 3 or more bills that you agree with and email or call your legislative representatives, asking them to vote for the bills on the floor this week. Voting is Monday – Friday so please do it today or Monday before 2 pm. It is not necessary to say anything more than that your are a constituent and you support bills ___, ___, and ___.
Senator Mike McGuire
Email: [email protected] or Phone: 916-651-4002
Bills to email or call Senator McGuire about
SB 1078 (Allen): This bill would establish the Sea Level Rise Revolving Loan Fund for purposes of providing, upon appropriation by the Legislature, low-interest loans to eligible local jurisdictions.
SB 1173 (Gonzalez and Wiener): SB 1173 is very important because it prohibits new CalPERS or CalSTRS investments in fossil fuels and requires divestment of existing fossil fuel investments by 2030.
SB 1203 (Becker): SB 1203 bill would declare the policy of the state that state agencies achieve zero net emissions of greenhouse gases resulting from their operations no later than January 1, 2035. This would be a breakthrough in our view.
SB 1314 (Limón): Requires that carbon capture utilization and storage projects do not result in Enhanced Oil Recovery (fracking with liquid carbon dioxide) in order to help the state achieve our climate goals and to protect frontline communities.
SB 833 (Dodd): Requires establishment of community energy and resiliency plans that would promote microgrids and phase out backup diesel generators.
SB 1010 (Skinner): Requires 50% moving to 100% of new medium and heavy vehicles and 100% of new light vehicles owned and operated by the state to be zero emission.
SB 1297 (Cortese): SB 1297 minimize embodied carbon and maximize carbon sequestration in building materials, through a plan and through procurement by public agencies.
SB 887 (Becker): Would expedite planning for new electric transmission lines for renewable energy.
SB 1391 (Kamlager): Finally a cap and trade bill that might do something! It only activates if California links to another cap and trade system, in particular Washington State. But if that happens it would mean California’s offsets would adopt the Washington State system that protects against useless or incinerated carbon offsets.
We oppose:
SB 1109 (Caballaro): Increases the amount of biomass required by PUC to be consumed by an energy facility. We don’t believe any biomass should be burned for energy. Although classed by the state as a renewable, emissions are as dirty as coal, inefficient and will not be replaced by new growth until well after we have to meet net zero. Burning biomass is a relic of a bygone age we wish could be eliminated altogether.
Bills to write or call Assemblymember Jim Wood about:
Email: https://a02.asmdc.org/contact or Phone: (916) 319-2002
AB 2026 (Friedman): Breaks new ground by limiting plastic packaging from online retailers. Recent amendments weakened it but it still worth doing.
AB 1778 (C. Garcia): Blocks expenditures of funds for freeway expansion in disadvantaged communities.
AB 1857 (C. Garcia): This important bill would enact the Zero Waste Transition Act of 2022. It moves localities from waste incineration toward meeting the state’s recycling goals and the state’s 2025 organic waste reduction target. It requires a 5-year investment strategy to drive local zero waste strategies for communities seeking to reduce their reliance on incineration. You voted for it in Assembly Natural Resources.