Opportunity to Act on Sierra Club’s 30 x 30 Efforts
The February Update of the Dirty Dollars Report has Arrived
California is considered one of the world’s 36 “biodiversity hotspots” due to the vast number of unique species in the state. And now, Sierra Club California volunteers have the opportunity to help the state agencies protect these precious species.
Last fall, the Governor issued an executive order directing state agencies to develop and implement a strategy to protect our state’s biodiversity. As a result, California joined the international effort to protect 30 percent of land and species around the world by 2030. But since then, the state has shared very little as to how they will meet by the 2030 goal.
Fortunately, the executive order directed implementation to include a stakeholder process in which the public is able to provide insight, knowledge, and advice to the state as to how we can meet the 2030 goal.
And in a webinar hosted by the Newsom Administration on January 27th - you can view a recording of that webinar here - the state announced that it plans to pursue a robust public engagement process and will be holding both regional and topical workshops around the state in the coming months.
Sierra Club California is uniquely positioned to provide input into this process. We have more than half a million members and supporters in all areas of the state with deep knowledge of the lands, rivers and streams, and species that need the most protection.
That is, we have boots on the ground. And it is clear that the state needs our volunteers' expertise and knowledge.
To that end, on February 20, the Sierra Club California Conservation Committee (aka CCC or CNRCC) will virtually meet to discuss conservation issues. The main focus of the meeting will be the 30 x 30 Executive Order: How it protects California's land and water, what changes we would like to see, and how Sierra Club California and the chapters can best advocate for change.
Plan to attend and learn more about the 30 x 30 process and ways you can be involved. You can register here.
Last November, we launched the Dirty Dollars project to investigate and report out campaign donations from fossil fuel interests and their allies to California state legislators and the Governor. You can read about and peruse that first edition here.
Last week, we released the February Update of the Dirty Dollars Report. The update chronicles dirty donations in 2019 and 2020 to all the newly elected Democrats in the Senate and Assembly along with all the Republicans in both houses. We will release another update in May that will include all legislators and any dirty donations they received in the first quarter of 2021.
The campaign finances of the newly elected Democrats have us feeling hopeful. Assemblymembers Alex Lee and Steve Bennett, and Senators Dave Min, Josh Newman and Monique Limon can all boast zero dollars in contributions from oil and gas interests. Based on meetings our lobbyists have had with these legislators, we do not expect our hopes to be dashed (at least by these particular leaders).
Unfortunately, the finances of one Democrat who won in November produce anxiety. An oil-backed Political Action Committee (PAC) spent well over $2 million on independent expenditures in support of Assemblymember Carlos Villapudua and in opposition to his vanquished opponent Kathy Miller. Villapudua represents Assembly District 13 that includes the Stockton area.
All Republican legislators, newly elected and returning, also received dirty dollar campaign contributions.
There is much more to be discovered in the 78 spreadsheets that comprise the February Update of Sierra Club California’s Dirty Dollar Report. Be sure to check your legislators’ spreadsheets and reach out to their office to thank or respectfully admonish them.
The California Energy Commission (CEC)’s latest proposal for energy efficiency will slow California’s ability to cut climate and air pollution.
The statewide Title 24 building code sets a minimum energy efficiency standard for new residential and commercial construction. The code helps determine whether new homes will be built to run on clean electricity or remain dependent on dirty fossil fuels. The CEC updates the code every three years, and the most recent update is nearing completion.
Well over 100 organizations, ranging from environmental to public health groups, utilities, air districts, and local governments, have testified at workshops and submitted comments to the CEC, urging the adoption of an all-electric code to get the gas out of new buildings. An all-electric standard will reduce climate emissions and air pollution, benefit public health, and reduce the costs to build and operate new buildings, including new homes.
Yet, even with this knowledge of the benefits of building electrification, the CEC proposed update falls wildly short of what California needs to make an impact.
The CEC’s current proposal only requires electrification of a single electric appliance with an important caveat. Either an electric heat pump water heater or an electric heat pump space heater will be used in the new standard. But, and even more disheartening, which of these appliances will be electric will be dependent on where the building is located and the proposal opts for the appliance that would use the least energy in a given climate zone.
To put into context, for new construction based in San Diego, the code would use a heat pump space heater for the new code standard instead of a heat pump water heater. A typical home in San Diego burns between 4 to 5 times more gas for water heating than space heating. Hence, the San Diego home could still be built with polluting gas dominating the fueling for appliances.
The building code update fails to comply with existing research that shows that California must electrify the building sector to sufficiently cut greenhouse gas emissions.The CEC proposal will set California on a path that will end up costing Californians more in the future as air pollution and climate pollution increase.
The CEC has five commissioners who must vote on the Title 24 proposal when it is finalized and brought to a vote sometime this summer. Governor Newsom can intervene in the meantime and tell the CEC to do better with its proposal.
You can help by writing to both the Governor and the CEC urging them to rise to this moment, demonstrate climate leadership, and commit to an all-electric standard in the 2022 code.
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