The Good - The Clean Transportation May Budget Proposal
The Bad - The CARB Scoping Plan’s Reliance on Dirty Fuels
What We're Keeping Our Eyes On - Energy Reliability Funding in May Revise
On May 13, Governor Newsom released the May Revise to his budget proposal. While the Revision was a mixed bag overall, Newsom continued to double down on investments in zero emission vehicles (ZEVs) and the infrastructure required to charge them.
The Governor proposed to accelerate the use of $1.75 billion of the $10 billion multi-year ZEV and ZEV infrastructure funding he proposed in the 2021-22 budget year. The sooner the state can replace combustion vehicles with ZEVs, the healthier our climate and communities will be. California is marching steadily towards a zero emission transportation future and this accelerated funding will keep that momentum going.
The proposal would accelerate $600 million for ZEV infrastructure and $300 million for equitable home charging. Even with significant investment in and deployment of charging infrastructure in recent years, range anxiety due to a lack of charging continues to be one of the largest barriers to ZEV adoption.
With the Advanced Clean Cars II rulemaking at CARB poised to set us on a path towards 100% ZEV sales by 2035, the state must do as much as it can as soon as possible to achieve this goal. The $900 million funding would go a long way towards accomplishing that.
The Governor also proposed fast-track funding for equity focused programs such as Clean Cars for All and community zero emission mobility. This funding would help ensure that frontline communities that bear the brunt of vehicle emissions are not left behind in the transition to a zero-emission future.
Finally, the May Revise included $750 million for three months of free transit and $500 million for the Active Transportation Program. This funding would help reduce vehicle miles traveled and lower carbon pollution.
We applaud Newsom’s continued commitment to setting California on a path away from fossil-fuel powered transportation.
Earlier this month, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) released a draft of the state’s 2022 Climate Change Scoping Plan Update, which lays out a roadmap for how the state can achieve its carbon emission reduction goals.
Unfortunately, the draft plan doesn’t go far enough in meeting several of those climate goals, including reducing our dependence on fossil fuels, and protecting California communities from pollution. Even worse, it won’t allow the state to reach carbon neutrality until 2045.
Last summer Governor Gavin Newsom asked CARB to evaluate pathways for the state to achieve carbon neutrality by 2035, including strategies to reduce fossil fuel demand and supply.
CARB came back with a disappointing plan that fails to meet the moment. The Draft Scoping Plan recommends little to no immediate action to reduce pollution. Additionally, CARB’s plan relies on expensive and unproven carbon capture and storage technology that will perpetuate the combustion of fossil fuel rather than phasing out these polluting industries. Finally, it looks to expand polluting methane gas powerplants and infrastructure.
Instead of directing CARB to do better, Newsom’s public comments have disappointingly defended the agency, saying during his budget unveiling that the Draft was “a good start.” The Governor cannot claim to be taking meaningful climate action while his Air Resources Board is marching the state on a path towards continued pollution and environmental destruction.
Take action and tell CARB that its Draft Scoping Plan is unacceptable.
The Governor is understandably worried about how climate-fueled extreme heat and wildfires will impact California’s grid. His administration’s anxiety has manifested in a $5.2 billion May Revise budget proposal for an energy reliability reserve that would seek to procure 5000 megawatts of energy to be used in case of a grid emergency.
Newsom laudably proposed investing in a more resilient grid with $970 million for distributed rooftop solar and storage that will keep the lights on and the AC running in homes across California during extreme weather events. However, the energy reserve proposal gives us pause.
During the stakeholder briefings following the release of the May Revise, agency leads and the Governor's advisors indicated that “nothing is off the table” for this reserve. This could mean that the state will spend a great deal of money propping up polluting methane gas powerplant and diesel back up generators, even as the administration acknowledges these are the very technologies that led to the climate crises that destabilize the grid.
Even if this 5000 MW reserve is only intended to be used in emergencies, these powerplants will run somewhat regularly as fossil fuel powerplants and diesel generators must be fired up occasionally to stay active.
We are still evaluating the Governor’s proposal and will await more details, but if the proposal is adopted without extreme guardrails on the technologies that will comprise the reserve, we fear it will be a setback for the climate and communities at a time when the climate, communities and the environment can least afford one.
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