Laura Deehan
State Director, Environment California
[email protected]
Statement: Gov. Newsom’s budget expands climate investment
Media Contacts
SACRAMENTO — Gov. Gavin Newsom announced his revised 2022-2023 state budget proposal on Friday with a $97 billion surplus. The ‘“California Blueprint” builds on proposals from January and March. The latest revision proposes an additional $12 billion to address the climate crisis, adding up to a record $47 billion.
The governor’s revised budget proposal includes:
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Accelerating $1.75 billion for clean car programs and charging infrastructure
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$1.5 billion for electric school buses
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$970 million for residential solar and storage for grid resilience
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$1.4 billion to protect nature, conserve land and create wildlife corridors
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$5.2 billion to create a ‘Strategic Electricity Reliability Reserve’ to avoid energy outages
With the governor’s proposal completed, the Senate and Assembly will respond with a proposed budget that must be adopted by June 15 and become law with the governor’s signature by July 1.
Environment California State Director Laura Deehan issued the following statement:
“We applaud Gov. Newsom’s record climate investment and urge the legislature to quickly adopt a budget that transitions us to a renewable economy. To address the climate crisis, the governor’s proposed budget would accelerate investment in clean electric vehicles and charging infrastructure, allowing Californians to leave our dependence on gas-guzzling cars in the rearview mirror. It would also expand investments in electric school buses and transform the energy economy with hundreds of millions for offshore wind and nearly a billion dollars for solar and battery storage.
“However, with a record surplus of $97 billion, California should be doubling down with even bigger investments on energy efficiency and nature-based solutions to address our state’s energy resilience and affordability crisis.
“We see the need for an electricity reserve fund, but keeping old polluting power plants online must be a last resort. California should be using the energy crisis to accelerate our transition away from polluting technologies and focusing on investments in energy efficiency and clean energy.
“We urge the California legislature and the governor’s office to work together to accelerate California’s transition to a clean energy future and ensure a healthy environment for generations to come.”
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