Today Governor Newsom released his budget for the 2022-2023 fiscal year, “The California Blueprint,” and we are cautiously excited.

Governor Newsom’s budget proposal renewed his commitment to climate by investing in our multimodal transportation system, zero-emission vehicles and infrastructure, climate resiliency, infill development, affordable housing, and many more areas related to climate change, including proposing $500m in building up a climate workforce. These are the types of investments needed to make meaningful reductions to greenhouse gases and create more connected and healthy communities. 

“One-time investments are paramount; 85% of the surplus goes towards one-time investments,” said Governor Newsom during his California Blueprint press conference.

This one-time investment is an opportunity to invest radically in climate change. For many years, California has set ambitious targets for greenhouse gas reduction and fallen short. The transportation sector has been the biggest contributor to emissions by focusing and prioritizing building out our highways system and improving roads. Under Gov. Newsom’s leadership and with the release of the Climate Action Plan for Transportation Infrastructure framework, we see the state shifting. We commend Gov. Newsom’s attention to our climate crisis and his leadership to invest in climate infrastructure, mitigation, and resilience.

“Caring about the climate crisis is far more than reducing emissions. If done correctly, addressing climate change connects communities, improves daily life, and makes our state a safer and healthier place to live. Seeing climate indicated in so many areas of the budget shows that Governor Newsom gets it.” Nailah Pope-Harden, Executive Director of ClimatePlan. 

For the last three years, one of ClimatePlan’s priorities has been ensuring that state spending aligns with our climate, public health, and equity goals. In December of 2021, ClimatePlan released a blog that urged the Governor to invest in four priorities to double down on his commitment to climate resiliency and equity. 

We look forward to working with the Governor’s office to see this budget proposal through in the coming months. 

Contact: Nailah Pope-Harden, [email protected].