California’s courageous climate action in 2022 must be the norm, not the exception | Opinion
California’s leaders acted with climate courage last year, taking historic action to protect our health and our future.
After failing to pass meaningful climate policies for three years, it’s an incredible comeback. Earning a near-failing D grade in 2021, California has jumped to an A- in a new scorecard compiled by California Environmental Voters. The Golden State regained its role as a global climate leader by enacting groundbreaking investments and policies to address the climate crisis.
As exciting as this historic year is, the work to save California is far from done. Pummeled by a deadly series of bomb cyclones, atmospheric rivers and flooding in the past few weeks, Californians are grappling with worsening impacts of climate change. Our state must continue to act with urgency in the quickest, most equitable ways possible to prepare for what’s coming and prevent the worst.
Opinion
It’s important to look at why 2022 was such a powerful year of climate action to understand what it’s going to take moving forward for California to sustain our work at the rate and scale science requires. The governor, senate president and speaker of the assembly came together around a common agenda and worked to ensure that California succeeded in passing big climate policy and investments. As a new legislative year begins, they must set their sights high again and maintain this wave of climate courage.
Topped with an unprecedented $54 billion state budget investment in climate action, the governor and state lawmakers enacted new laws to end oil drilling in neighborhoods, accelerate action toward a clean transportation sector and carbon neutrality and phase out single-use plastics because of their profound climate impact.
Despite the urgency to convert our transportation sector to clean energy and create wildfire resilience, elected leadership failed to champion Proposition 30, which would have taxed the state’s wealthiest residents and used that money to fund climate initiatives. Bills to align transportation investments with climate goals and protect the San Joaquin Valley from air pollution were also vetoed on the governor’s desk.
We cannot look back nor can we afford the luxury of delay. Our window of time to preserve a livable future for our kids is extremely short. The scope of climate actions taken in 2022 must be the goal, not the exception.
For many lawmakers in the state legislature, this year is also an opportunity to reject campaign checks from Big Oil. In 2022, a shocking 54% Democrats and 100% of Republicans accepted direct campaign contributions from oil companies and major oil industry political action committees. Californians want to see their representatives fight corporate polluters, not cozy up with them. Our climate fight has to include leveraging California’s market power to ensure corporate leadership and responsibility in reducing carbon emissions.
As historic as 2022 was, it has to be the beginning of a wave of climate courage from our state leaders. Ultimately, we all face a simple truth: there will be no second chances to save California. The good news is that the solutions exist to transition to clean energy, electrify transportation and buildings and make our communities and landscapes more resilient to flooding, drought and extreme wildfires.
These infrastructure investments are also job creators that act as an economic stimulus. The challenge is that it will take massive ongoing and rapid financial investments in these sectors to protect communities from what’s already happening.
Steering our economy, among the world’s largest, to a sustainable future requires investing in a bold vision around these solutions for change during good times and bad. That’s why California’s $54 billion investment in climate action must be protected from the $6 billion in cuts recently proposed, and, instead, increased and implemented quickly and equitably.
State leaders have proven that our government is capable of the big change necessary to solve the climate crisis. Let’s hope they have the climate courage to sustain this leadership.
Mary Creasman is the CEO of California Environmental Voters.
