Long Beach oilfield, 1920, scaler.usc.edu

The latter part of July tends to be relatively quiet on the policy front but timings vary across jurisdictions. Both houses of Congress adjourn through most of August and resurface mid-September. The California legislature operates on a different schedule, returning August 3rd for their annual vote-a-rama push to get bills to the Governor’s desk by the August 31st deadline. 

We will have plenty of specific legislative calls to actions in our next policy and advocacy newsletter, but for now we think it important to address a very important issue that has surprisingly received scant attention: the California’s Air Resources Board’s (CARB) controversial decision to partially dismantle its flagship Cap and Trade program by giving industrial polluters up to $3.5 billion of free credits. The Legislative Analyst’s Office projects that quarterly auction revenue for state climate programs will drop from roughly $4 billion a year to about $2 billion under the overhaul. Obviously, a 50% drop in revenue would mean huge funding cuts to affordable housing, transit, clean water and pollution monitoring programs.

During the recently concluded California budget negotiations, the “Cap and Giveaway” proposal was set aside with negotiations between legislators and the Governor’s office to resume through August and September. During this quiet period, there is an opportunity to contact your state representatives with a strong message to fight for a clean energy California and against this awful surrender to the fossil fuel industry. Take action: edit our text and email your representatives at https://actionbutton.nationbuilder.com/share/SPK-QEhDQ0I=

Click on the image to contact your state representatives.

You can learn more here:

• California overhauls carbon market — critics say it’s a giveaway to oil (CalMatters)
• Amid Opposition, California Regulators Approve Major Changes To Cap-And-Trade Program (KQED)
• California air regulators update a key climate program, sparking pushback from environmentalists (Associated Press)
• Environmental Justice Group Sues Over California’s New Cap-and-Trade Rules (Streetsblog)
• California Legislative Analyst Report on CARB’s Proposed Program Changes
• CARB’s Proposed Manufacturing Decarbonization Investment Fund