Our letter to the Governor calls for job stimulus dollars for climate and equity. The DPO Resolution outlines the actions needed (Resolution 2020-007: Regarding Climate-Smart Economic Recovery), including the development of Green Banks.
While we strongly support the Climate Executive Order, the timeline needs to move faster.
Agencies can’t wait until 2022 to implement action. They should create interim rules and call for budgets to address climate immediately. Read the letter for more examples of actions.
The Environmental Caucus submitted specific comments on three of the major EO climate plans: Department of Environmental Quality – Cap and Reduce plan, Multi-Agency Implementation Work Plan of the Statewide Transportation Strategy, and the Dept. of Land Conservation and Development. All of these call for advisory boards. We are requesting that a majority of advisors should be acting for the public good, including direct representatives for those most impacted. The corporations already on the supervisory boards. They have not taken significant action to address the climate emergency we are in.
Lastly, we call for inclusion of the Social Cost of Carbon to tip the scale in analyses and budgets. This tool quantifies the various costs of future climate impacts such as loss of crops due to drought or fighting more severe wildfires. So, when an agency compares the cost of say diesel buses to electric buses, it makes economic sense to pay more upfront for new climate smart improvements because the cost of inaction is included in the cost/benefit calculations.
Email us if you’d like to be more involved in our climate work. [email protected]
