According to the Legislative Analyst Office, there will be a $31 billion budget surplus for the 2022-2023 fiscal year. As ClimatePlan highlighted last month in this blog, there is also $44.5 billion in federal infrastructure money headed to the state as well. California is living up to the Golden State moniker. The question is will Governor Newsom use this funding to invest in his bold and ambitious climate agenda?

As Governor Newsom prepares the budget, and directs federal funding, we hope to see many of the below programs prioritized. This list is not exhaustive, it is merely a guide of existing programs that advance ClimatePlan’s values of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, reducing vehicle miles traveled, increasing transit and active transportation access, and amplifying community voices. While some of these programs are not currently climate-friendly, new funding could be an opportunity to advocate for stronger climate requirements. 

If you are interested in getting involved in ClimatePlan’s efforts around aligning transportation funding to California’s climate goals contact Nailah Pope-Harden, [email protected].

In early November, a Bipartisan Federal Infrastructure Bill was signed into law. This has some positive and some concerning implications for ClimatePlanners throughout our state. Before we dive in, we should acknowledge the numerous articles that break down what exactly was in the bill, including the following links:

• Streetsblog: How the Infrastructure Deal will make transit better?
• NACo: Legislative Analysis of Infrastructure and Jobs Act.
• CalBike: How will the Infrastructure bill impact Bike Riders?
• White House factsheet: The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act Will Deliver for California.
• Vox: States Have The Power to Make or Break the Infrastructure Law.

We have been working diligently to build ClimatePlan’s Advisory Boards that will reflect diversity in issue area, perspective, background, and geography for the last several months. We believe, and have always believed, that no single organization can do this work alone. ClimatePlan has found strength in being a broad-based organization that convenes like-minded- and not-so- like minded groups together to drive transformative change. 

There are still several spots to be filled on our boards. If you are interested in ClimatePlan’s Governance Advisory Board or ClimatePlan’s Policy Advisory Board, please contact Nailah, [email protected]. 

In the meantime, allow me to introduce ClimatePlan’s new Advisory Board...

On October 28th, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) conducted a public hearing to consider approval of the Mobile Source Strategy. For those who don’t know, the Mobile Source Strategy is an integrated scenario planning effort that identifies strategies to reduce emissions from mobile sources to meet climate and equity goals.

We see the Mobile Source Strategy as an opportunity to advocate for the importance of vehicle miles traveled reduction to the entire board. This blog is a recap of that meeting and ClimatePlan’s comments. This blog also provides next steps as the mobile source strategy has been sent to the legislature. The short of it is, the ClimatePlan network can step up to advocate for reducing vehicle miles traveled, especially in ways that provide access to resources and reduce air pollution for environmental justice communities.

Clean Air Day is next week and we as an organization, and staff are making our commitments now. Read more about our commitments and take the pledge with us! The link is here.