A successful day of advocacy at California Climate Lobby Day

On March 20th, Environment California and our partners led a day of advocacy at the capitol in Sacramento, meeting with dozens of legislators and their staff who will vote on key bills to address climate change and keep clean energy growing in 2024.

Participants met directly with lawmakers and their offices, delivering a clear and compelling call for bold climate action this year in California. Addressing climate change is an increasingly urgent priority as California experiences more impacts caused by global warming pollution such as extreme weather and more devastating wildfires. 

The group lobbied for several key bills and climate priorities, including:

AB 2256 (Friedman)

This bill would keep rooftop solar growing in California by establishing its true value, including its environmental and societal benefits, when determining how to compensate solar panel owners for the electricity they supply to the electric grid. Tell your legislators to pass AB 2256 here!

SB 233 (Skinner) 

This bill would allow for a cleaner and more resilient electric grid by enabling all electric vehicles to use their batteries to charge homes and provide backup power when needed. Tell your legislators to pass SB 233 here!

SB 252 (Gonzalez)

This bill would prohibit the California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS) and the California State Teachers Retirement System (CalSTRS) from investing in fossil fuel companies, which undermines California’s efforts to transition away from fossil fuels and towards clean energy.

Defending the climate and clean air budget

State decision makers must invest in California’s clean air safety net, even in tough years when faced with a budget deficit. We must maintain robust funding for programs that promote clean air, clean transportation, and clean buildings, such as Clean Cars 4 All, the Active Transportation Program, and the Equitable Building Decarbonization Program. California can find funding for critical climate and environmental programs by cutting all state subsidies that benefit the oil and gas industry, and by redirecting funding for unnecessary highway expansion projects. Tell Gov. Newsom to end all oil and gas subsidies here!

Passing a climate bond

California needs a climate bond to help protect its people and its environment from the worsening impacts of climate change and ensure strong, sustained state climate investments. Cuts to California’s historic climate investments last year, coupled with additional proposed cuts this year, show that additional bond funding is desperately needed to ensure progress on clean energy, climate, and biodiversity goals established by California’s leaders. Offshore wind infrastructure is one area in need of critical public and private investment, which bond funding can help fulfill for a smoother transition to 100% clean energy.

Californians support strong climate action: about eight in ten California adults say climate change is a top concern or one of several important concerns to them personally. California Climate Lobby Day helped advocates from across the state connect with decision makers and reiterate the importance of transitioning to clean energy faster and keeping climate investments strong. There is much for our state to accomplish in 2024 to keep California a climate leader, so state legislators must support smart climate solutions like rooftop solar energy, bidirectional electric vehicle charging, and more.