Moving people and goods is California’s largest source of the pollution that kills and sickens people and causes catastrophic climate change that brings devastating wildfires to our state.
California has led the way in the U.S. toward cleaning up cars, buses and trucks, but every day of smoke and smog shows that we need to do more to protect our health and stabilize the climate. That’s why Coalition for Clean Air enthusiastically supports the Clean Cars and Clean Air Act, which is headed toward this November’s ballot for approval by voters.
The CCCA Act would super-charge California’s clean transportation transition and wildfire-fighting efforts, raising over $4 billion annually to fund proven programs. Where would the money come from? A tax on only the very wealthiest taxpayers, those with over $2 million in income, an amount most Californians could never even dream of.
Revenues from this progressive tax would fund zero-emission cars, trucks and buses, especially for low-income communities of color that are facing the worst impacts of climate change, air pollution and historic disinvestment. Money would also be set aside to pay for the stations to fuel those clean vehicles, whether they run on batteries or hydrogen fuel cells. These funds, combined with strong standards that the state either has set or is in the process of establishing, will speed the replacement of polluting tailpipes with clean machines.
The CCCA Act would also provide needed support for CalFire’s wildfire prevention and suppression programs, including the home hardening and defensible space that are key to safeguarding communities. The measure takes aim at both the biggest source of harmful emissions — transportation — and the most devastating impact that climate change is wreaking on our state — catastrophic wildfire.
That’s why we are joining with health, environmental, labor, business and equity allies in the campaign, https://cleanairca.org/, to put this measure on the November ballot and ask voters to approve it, for the sake of our common future.
