Contact: Bill Magavern 916-527-8051
For Immediate Release
Governor Brown’s proposed budget for next year includes a strong commitment to investing in programs that reduce air and climate pollution and provide vital transportation and energy services to Californians. California’s climate investments take charges paid by major polluters and use the revenues to cut emissions, with a significant portion required to go to our most disadvantaged communities.
In order to provide effective and equitable programs, these budget numbers need to be accompanied by related policies. In particular, the budget proposes over $2.8 billion for Trade Corridor Improvements; these dollars should be tied to emission reductions in the communities most affected by goods movement, and at least one-third of the funds should go toward advanced technologies that achieve zero emissions or nearly zero emissions using low-carbon renewable fuel.
We applaud the Governor’s proposal to implement the directive of last year’s AB 197 (E. Garcia) to prioritize direct emission controls with a new measure to reduce refinery pollution, and his commitment to find ways to reduce toxic air contaminants and criteria pollutants from large emitters. We also urge a robust implementation of last year’s AB 1550 (J. Gomez), which built on SB 535 (2012, de León) and requires that at least 25% of the climate investments be spent in disadvantaged communities, with an additional 10% to benefit low-income communities.
