Capitol Voice September 2022

By Daniel Barad and Brandon Dawson

While most Californians were asleep at 1:30 AM on September 1, Sierra Club California’s policy advocates were shuffling about the capitol (for the first time in two years!). As another eventful, two-year legislative session came to an end, we were hard at work trying to advance legislation to protect the environment and local Californian communities.

This year, Sierra Club California tracked a total of 854 bills that were introduced in 2022, or introduced last year but acted on in some way in 2022. Of these 854 bills, we supported 154, 59 of which made it to the Governor's desk.

Among the bills we supported that made it to the Governor’s desk were:

• SB 1314 (Limon), which prohibits captured carbon from being used to extract more fossil fuels.
• SB 1137 (Gonzalez), which protects public health by requiring new oil and gas drilling to be sited at least 3,200 feet from homes, schools, daycares, nursing homes, and other sensitive areas.
• AB 2278 (Kalra), which requires the Secretary of the California Natural Resources Agency to report to the Legislature on the progress toward achieving the goal of conserving 30% of California's lands and coastal waters by 2030.
• AB 2438 (Friedman), which  reduces greenhouse gas emissions by requiring various state transportation programs to incorporate strategies from the climate planning documents into their guidelines.
• AB 2146 (Bauer-Kahan), which protects Californians and pollinators by banning non-agricultural uses of the top five neonicotinoid pesticides (neonics).

 
Sierra Club California also stopped many environmentally harmful bills from passing this session, as we work to every year. Of the 56 bills we opposed this year, 5 made it to the governor's desk. Among those bills were:  

• SB 1109 (Caballero) which will further extend the lives of antiquated, polluting biomass incinerators throughout the state at ratepayers’ expense. 
• SB 846 (Dodd) will give PG&E a $1.4 billion forgivable loan, overstep environmental review, and extend the use of ecologically irresponsible once-through-cooling technology to extend the life of the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant which was supposed to be shut in 2025.

For a full list of how our priority bills fared this session, click here.
 
Like most legislative sessions, this one was bittersweet. We will continue to advocate in the Governor’s office to ensure that he signs the 59 pro-environment bills that we helped send to him and vetoes the 5 that slipped through despite our best efforts. 
 
Look out for our 2022 Legislative Report Card to find out how your Senator and Assemblymember voted on the most important bills this year. 

By Molly Culton

The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) is the wholesale water and power provider to 2.7 million people across three Bay Area counties. The SFPUC provides nearly one-third of water deliveries from Hetch Hetchy Reservoir to customers within San Francisco, while the rest is sent to Alameda, San Mateo, and Santa Clara counties.

Sierra Club California and other environmental groups, led by Peter Drekmeier from Tuolumne River Trust, have been tracking the SFPUC’s development of the “Design Drought” and the Long Term Vulnerability Assessment, models which it uses to predict how climate change might impact current and future water supply in the region.

The Design Drought is a planning scenario that combines the worst drought on record (1987-92) with the driest two-year period on record (1976/77). By using such a conservative estimate that is unlikely to materialize, SFPUC argues that increased diversions must be taken from the Tuolumne river at the detriment of an ecosystem already struggling from lack of flows.

Environmental groups are encouraging the SFPUC to reduce the Design Drought by one year to ensure additional water can stay in the river to the benefit of the ecosystem. With this change, the SFPUC would still use the most conservative planning scenario in the region. A recent SFPUC climate change study supports environmentalists conclusion that the Design Drought is far too conservative.

Sierra Club California and our allies  are also encouraging the SFPUC to adopt more reasonable water demand projections. Past demand projections by the SFPUC have always been inflated by 20-30%. They continue to assume demand will increase until it reaches their sales cap of 265 million gallons per day (mgd),  even though demand has been under 200 mgd for the past eight years. Using reasonable and more realistic demand projections would reduce potential overrationing and diversions from the Tuolumne river shed.

Efforts are also being made to encourage Mayor Breed of San Francisco to appoint a new commissioner to the environmental seat on the SFPUC Board, which has been vacant since former Commissioner Ed Harrinton resigned earlier this year. You can help urge Mayor Breed to fill the vacancy with a good, environmental candidate by taking action on this petition here.
 

California Makes Progress on Building Electrification  

By Sakereh Carter

As the impacts of climate change continue to affect California, it’s more important than ever that our state government is committed  to protecting all Californians' health and financial well-being, especially frontline communities. Building electrification initiatives are crucial to these efforts .

This year, California has taken significant steps to electrify our homes and buildings. Governor Newsom has committed to deploy 6 million heat pumps by 2030, and create 7 million climate-ready homes by 2035. Importantly, half of these funds will be allocated to low-income communities of color. Additionally, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) recently proposed to sever rate payer-driven gas line extension subsidies, which would make CA the first state in the nation to prohibit the expansion of gas line infrastructure in new buildings. 

Moreover, the legislature and Governor passed a state budget that recognizes the critical nature of heat-related illnesses associated with high ambient temperatures. The budget includes millions of dollars for programs that will implement community resilience centers in underserved communities. It bolsters the Technology and Equipment for Clean Heating (TECH) Initiative. The TECH program prioritizes frontline communities by providing financial incentives and assistance for installing low-emission space and water heating technologies.  

In California, communities of color spend significantly more of their income on energy costs relative to White households. These communities are exposed to approximately 35% more particulate matter released from residential gas appliance emissions. In addition, communities 200% below the poverty line pay three times more of their income on energy expenses compared to affluent households.  

Sierra Club CA applauds the state legislature and Governor for prioritizing the health of Californian communities, particularly communities that pay higher utility bills with less financial resources that are exposed to more gas-related pollution. 

Sierra Club CA will be participating in a number of CPUC and CEC proceedings and public workshops to support frontline communities and all Californians that would benefit from the aforementioned building electrification initiatives. Stay tuned for opportunities to join us!