Thank you, Governor Newsom, for CA’s Climate Commitment…

…with lawmakers’ help, it’s game over for polluters.

This decade offers a narrow window of time – our last chance – to fight polluters and prevent irreversible damage to California caused by climate change and air pollution. Such high stakes make Governor Gavin Newsom’s California Climate Commitment so important. It’s an unprecedented $37 billion action plan to:

• Protect Californians from the extreme effects of climate change
• Lead the world in reducing carbon and air pollution
• Ensure that those most harmed by climate change, often communities of color, are empowered to fight for climate justice.

What state lawmakers do next will decide if our state preserves a safe and healthy future for all or leaves behind a damaged state dooming our children to a dim future.

Communities with the least resources are suffering the most from the oil and gas companies profiting from our state’s losing battle with climate change. Catastrophic wildfires, the worst drought in a century, deadly heat waves, and toxic air pollution threaten our homes, our jobs, our health, and our natural heritage. These extremes will only get more intense, more frequent, and more destructive unless the legislature acts now.

History will judge lawmakers because their duty to act on climate is so clear. Governor Newsom has provided a serious plan for a serious threat to the lives we build and the land we love. It’s time for lawmakers to fight the oil industry executives getting rich off our climate crisis and invest in the communities bearing the brunt of pollution and environmental destruction.

Read this statement by Policy Director Bill Magavern for additional thoughts on the Governor’s proposed budget.