The End of Session: 4 Bills, 3 Weeks, 2 Committees, 1 Action

The final 3 weeks of the 2023 Legislative Session have crept up on us, and there are still several crucial bills alive that Sierra Club California is fighting for. These bills will play an important role in addressing the effects of the climate crisis, protecting California communities’ public health, and holding Big Oil accountable. These bills include: 

AB 421: As you’re no doubt aware, polluters and big corporations are constantly trying to rollback California’s progress in the environmental justice and labor arenas. Their most recent attack was the successful push to put California’s oil setbacks law - SB 1137 - on the ballot in 2024 for the voters to decide. AB 421 would simplify language on the ballot to make it more clear what voters are deciding. This bill will curb abuse of the ballot measure process, which has been increasingly used by wealthy corporations acting in bad faith to overturn laws that protect workers and communities.
 

AB 1167: Big Oil is drilling in our communities, exposing Californians to a long list of health hazards, reaping record profits, abandoning their dirty oil wells, AND sending us the bill when it’s time to clean up. AB 1167 will address this issue by blocking the practice of big oil companies selling off their wells to smaller and often less solvent operators, who then walk away from their obligation to clean up the wells when they’re no longer producing. The bill requires that any time a well is sold, a bond be posted that will actually cover the whole cost of cleanup. This not only protects Californian’s finances, but our public health as well. 

SB 233: Bidirectional electric vehicle charging makes it possible for EVs to become “batteries on wheels” — capable of using the energy stored in their batteries to back up the power grid, homes, and businesses. This bill will unlock that potential for California’s millions of electric vehicles by requiring most new electric vehicles sold in California to have bidirectional charging capability by 2030. This would enable the state to power homes during outages, lower energy bills for Californians, and make our electricity grid more reliable.

SB 253: Corporate accountability and leadership are necessary pillars of climate action. Big businesses must be a part of the solution if California is going to achieve the drastic emissions reductions necessary to address the climate crisis. SB 253 will hold these corporations accountable by ensuring that companies in California making over $1 billion in gross annual revenue must disclose their entire scope of emissions for the life cycle of their products.

All of these bills are currently sitting in either the Assembly Appropriations (SB 233 & SB 253) or Senate Appropriations Committees (AB 421 & AB 1167).

The next three weeks will be full of passionate advocacy from Sierra Club California and our allies, fierce debate amongst legislators, and slimy tactics from polluting industries. But we can’t pushback on these tactics unless we have a grassroots movement backing up our advocacy. 

Do your part and call the chairs of the Appropriations Committees - Assemblymember Chris Holden in the Assembly and Senator Anthony Portantino in the Senate - to express your support for the 4 bills above. Tell these two powerful legislators these bills MUST pass out of their committees by the Sept 1 deadline and advance to the floor. You can find their numbers here and here. 

After you get off the phone with these committees, call a friend and tell them to do the same. The climate movement needs you now more than ever. We’re all stronger together.

Sincerely,