How to contact the Governor:
Click here to go to the Governor’s contact page.
Fill out the contact form (Select Budget May Revision 2024-2025 as the Topic). We encourage you to personalize the letter by using one of our prompts highlighted below.
Template Letter:
Dear Governor Newsom,
I am contacting you today to urge California to prioritize investments in clean air. I am concerned about the effects polluted air has on my family, my community, and myself. Californians breathe the smoggiest air in the nation. While dirty air impacts everyone, those living next to freeways and polluters take the brunt of the impact. As a result, our most vulnerable Californians are living shorter and sicker lives. Rather than spending limited state funds on freeway expansion and fossil fuels, I urge you to invest in clean air by funding programs to put clean cars and trucks on the road and support cleaner options for getting around.
I urge you to fund the Active Transportation Program and local Clean Cars For All programs. Active Transportation can be funded from the State Highway Account, and existing funding can be shifted from statewide Clean Cars For All to the regional programs to ensure that they do not run out of funding as early as next month. These budgetary solutions will help ensure that we continue to invest in sustainable transportation priorities without sacrificing other important climate programs.
These two key programs protect millions of Californians from the adverse health effects of air pollution and protect our state from the impacts of climate change. Nearly every Californian breathes air that violates national and state air quality health standards. Asthma and cancer take a toll on every family in my community, and climate disasters are getting worse. We need timely action to clean up our air as thousands of Californians die each year from health complications caused by poor air quality. I urge you to protect the health of people like me by undoing cuts to important climate programs, such as those that build sidewalks and bike lanes and provide incentives for low-income folks to switch to zero-emission cars.
Feel free to add a personalized message here. Examples include:
- Freeways and warehouses crisscross my community. My family members and our neighbors have breathing issues or cancer.
- My family/my community/my friends were driven from their homes by wildfires, displaced, and scared for days/months.
- My kids were forced to stay indoors/outdoor practices were canceled due to the bad air quality days we’ve experienced.
- The increasing heat waves worry me about the future of the planet my children and grandchildren will inherit.
- I would be interested in purchasing an electric vehicle but I cannot afford one
- I wish there were sidewalks near my residence so that I could safely walk to the grocery store/walk my kids to school/etc without the need to drive my car.
- I would like to ride my bike but feel unsafe doing so due to the lack of protected bike lanes in my neighborhood.
We should have easy access to non-driving alternatives, especially for those who cannot afford a car or are unable to drive. We want more clean cars on the road, more charging infrastructure, and more biking and walking routes. We don’t want more subsidies and tax breaks for oil companies and highway expansions. Please put funds back into the equitable clean air programs that directly support the people who need it most. Please protect our air and create a better future for my community and all of California.
Sincerely,
[Your Name Here]
