FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 13, 2022
Contact: Brandon Dawson, brandon.dawson@sierraclub.org
Governor’s May Revise is Mixed Bag for Environment and Addressing Climate Change
Sacramento, CA - Today, Governor Gavin Newsom released the 2022-2023 May Revision to his state budget proposal, which will bring California’s multi-year climate investment to $47.1 billion. While historic, the May Revise unfortunately also includes funding that could set the state back in its efforts to retire outdated energy resources and increase water resilience.
Among the good aspects of the May Revise are:
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Continued strong investments in the state’s transition to Zero Emission Vehicles by accelerating $1.75 billion in funding for Zero Emission Vehicles and the infrastructure necessary to power this transition.
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$970 million for residential solar and storage system incentives, including for low-income households. These investments will not only help to slow the climate crisis and improve air quality, they will also help create more resilient communities as homes will continue to have power during deenergization events.
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$750 million in grants to provide Californians with free transit for three months and $500 million for the Active Transportation Program.
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$1.2 billion to address residential electric utility arrearages and $200 million to address residential water and wastewater arrearages.
Among the disappointments of the May Revise are:
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$5.2 billion that could, in part, fund existing generation capacity that is scheduled to retire and diesel- and methane-powered back-up generation.
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$500 million that could, in part, fund new environmentally harmful dams and above-ground water storage.
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Funds for projects that support implementation of Voluntary Agreements, instead of supporting the State Water Board’s process to update water quality standards for the Bay-Delta ecosystem. The voluntary agreements were negotiated without public engagement or transparency and fail to provide adequate flow protections for the Bay-Delta ecosystem.
Statement from Brandon Dawson, Director of Sierra Club California:
“The May Revision contains great investments aimed at addressing the effects of the climate crisis, but its implementation could ultimately end up a mixed bag. There are things to applaud, including money for the state’s transition to zero-emission transportation, which will improve air quality and slow the climate crisis. There’s also important funding to equitably deploy rooftop solar and storage, which was threatened by the Public Utilities Commission earlier this year.
However, there’s no guarantee that the energy reliability money the Governor is proposing doesn’t prop up aging fossil fuel infrastructure. The California Air Resources Board disappointingly called for these types of investments in their draft Scoping Plan, so we want to ensure that the Governor’s budget isn’t in furtherance of that. We’ll need to ensure that those funds don’t support polluting industries that continue to disproportionately harm low-income communities and communities of color.”
Sierra Club California is the legislative and regulatory arm of Sierra Club’s 13 local chapters in California, representing half a million members and supporters.