FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

(SACRAMENTO, CA) - Outside the State Capitol, climate, environmental justice, and sustainable agriculture leaders held a press conference urging lawmakers to reject Governor Gavin Newsom’s proposal for extending Cap-and-Trade and end the program’s handouts to Big Oil (worth $890 million last year) while also releasing a list of reform demands for grounding the program’s future in affordability and equity for California’s families with low-incomes. 

Governor Newsom announced his plan to extend Cap-and-Trade last month when releasing his May Revise budget. He aims to extend the program for 20 years, which aligns with the timeline of a state law he signed requiring California to eliminate greenhouse gas emissions by 2045. If lawmakers approve his Cap-and-Trade plan, the industry will stay flush with billions of dollars in pollution freebies – with no requirement for lower gas prices – while all funds will be wiped out that help California’s most vulnerable people who need help securing clean drinking water due to worsening droughts, protections from extreme heat, and access to clean energy upgrades. The sweeping of these funds ignores state laws requiring at least 35 percent Cap-and-Trade funds benefit disadvantaged or low income communities and families with low incomes. 

“This is President Trump’s cutthroat vision for America. It’s not who we are as Californians,” said Katie Valenzuela, Director of Policy and Advocacy, Everyday Impact Consulting. “Big Oil is gaslighting all of us, saying what’s good for the industry is good for families on a budget. That’s rich. State leaders must not buy into the industry’s propaganda. Californians need to know Cap-and-Trade’s dirty secret: Big Oil is cashing in on billions of dollars meant to reduce the harms of climate change. All we get in return is more pollution and the costs from being exposed to it – higher rates of asthma, heart disease, and cancer, missed work and school days, and more medical bills.”

“As the climate crisis tightens its grip, California’s affordability crisis gets much worse, and industrial pollution continues to plague lower income communities and communities of color. We need our leaders to dedicate Cap-and-Trade funds to help frontline communities bearing the brunt of the costs of the climate crisis and continued pollution, not give polluters a pass,” said Asha Sharma, State Policy Manager at Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability. “It’s absurd for our climate policy to include billions in giveaways for Big Oil so it can claim to reduce climate-altering emissions on paper instead of having to do in real life. If our state leaders don’t make serious changes to the Cap-and-Trade program, polluters will continue to skate while low-income communities of color neighboring polluters pay the price.”

The groups released a list of demands for lawmakers to reform Cap-and-Trade in ways that secure meaningful protections for environmental justice communities and curb the costs of the climate crisis on California’s working families, including the following reforms:

• Strengthening the program with a stronger cap to put our state’s climate emission reduction goals in reach while generating revenue from polluters to invest in proven affordability and equity programs, such as utility ratepayer credits

• Eliminating subsidies for the state’s oil and gas industry

• Prioritizing significant investments for low income families and environmental justice communities.

“We’re fighting for real climate solutions, especially for the communities of color most affected by poverty and pollution. Climate change is a threat multiplier. We’re experiencing record-breaking extreme heat, fatal floods, massive power shut offs, and devastating wildfires. These threats are not generations away. They are impacting us today,” said Lolly Lim, Senior Program Manager of Climate Equity at Greenlining Institute. “Climate emergency preparedness and adaptation cannot depend on how much money you have. We must build climate resilience rooted in strong and empowered communities. This means putting money towards the people and places that need it most.”

“Big Oil is already getting special treatment in DC. They don't need handouts from California, as well," said Barry Vesser, Chief Operating Officer at The Climate Center. “The decisions California leaders make right now about Cap and Trade will dictate the next two decades of climate action. This is our best chance to prevent the dangerous and costly climate extremes that threaten our health, lives, and jobs. A strong Cap and Trade program is vital to investing in California's future and keeping our climate and clean air goals within reach.”

“If lawmakers are serious about turning Cap-and-Trade into Cap-and-Invest, then it’s time to stop letting Big Oil write the rules,” said Nile Malloy, Climate Justice Director at the California Environmental Justice Alliance. “The oil industry knew about the dangers of burning gasoline as far back as the 1950s — and chose to gaslight Californians for profit. Now, California families are paying the price through higher gas bills, extreme heat, and wildfires. Our most vulnerable communities can’t wait. Lawmakers must strengthen investments in clean air, climate resilience, and affordability, starting by reforming climate policies to deliver more effective bigger, faster relief to low-income households and the regions hit hardest by rising energy costs.”

ABOUT CAP AND TRADE 

Under current law, Cap-and-Trade is authorized until 2030. Instead of requiring major polluters to cut climate-warming emissions, Cap-and-Trade allows them to pay for their pollution under a cap that declines over time. Operating since 2012, this revenue has supported $12.8 billion in projects such as providing safe and affordable drinking water, offsetting costs for home energy efficiency upgrades or the purchase of a zero-emission car, and credits on our utility bills.

Polluters weakened Cap-and-Trade when it was last reauthorized, in 2017, primarily by turning subsidized pollution rights for industries at risk of leaving the state into pork for all polluters. Big Oil was the big winner of this giveaway, worth $890 million in pollution freebies last year alone.

Learn more at www.StopGaslightingCA.org.

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