2022 California Legislative Wins
California has regained its global climate leadership!
California’s 2022 legislative session’s victories are unprecedented and launch a just climate future. Big Oil and corporate polluters lost big time, and our fight for climate justice continues.
California is finally investing in solutions at the scale required to turn the tide before time runs out at the end of this decade:
EnviroVoters Priority Bills Passed by the Legislature and Signed into Law:
*SB 1137 (Gonzalez; Limon): Ends new and phases out existing oil drilling next to homes, daycares, schools, hospitals, and other sensitive sites. This bill is a long overdue win for frontline communities and critical to transitioning our economy away from its reliance on fossil fuels. Big Oil is a dangerous, exploitive neighbor that has made record profits while exposing California’s low-income communities of color to invisible toxic pollutants. After years of tirelessly fighting, it’s exciting to see our leaders side with environmental justice advocates and take bold action to help these underserved communities suffering from cancer clusters, higher rates of childhood asthma, and lower life expectancies.
*AB 1279 (Muratsuchi): Codifies Carbon Neutrality as soon as possible but no later than 2045 paired with a strong 85% direct emissions reduction target. AB 1279 aligns state emissions reduction goals with the latest science to keep California accountable for action within the timeline needed to prevent a climate catastrophe. The bill, which is a reintroduction of legislation that did not pass last year, commits California to achieve carbon neutrality as soon as possible but no later than 2045. Importantly, this goal is paired with a commitment to achieve 85% greenhouse gas reductions below the 1990 level by 2045.
*AB 1757 (Garcia; Rivas): Set targets for the removal of past carbon dioxide equivalent emissions in the atmosphere through natural carbon sequestration.
*SB 1020 (Laird): Establishes stronger clean energy targets to require renewable energy and zero-carbon resources to supply 90% energy sales by 2035 and 95% by 2040, with requiring all state agencies to rely on 100% renewable energy and zero-carbon resources by 2030.
*SB 1314 (Limón): Protects communities and the climate from false solutions by banning the use of captured carbon for what is called “enhanced oil recovery,” which is to use carbon captured by technology to drill for more oil masked as “climate action.”
SB 54 (Allen): The California Recycling and Plastic Pollution Reduction Act. SB 54, already signed into law by Governor Newsom, will begin the critical process of phasing out single-use plastic in California and instead shift to recyclable or compostable materials.
AB 2316 (Ward): Making Community Solar and Storage Affordable for Low-Income Californians
EnviroVoters Priority Bills Passed by the Legislature but Vetoed by the Governor:
AB 1919 (Holden): The California Youth Transit Pass Program
*AB 2438 (Friedman): Aligning Transportation Investments with Climate Goals
AB 2550 (Arambula): Protecting the San Joaquin Valley from Air Pollution
EnviroVoters Priority Bills the Legislature Failed to Pass:
SB 260 (Wiener): The Climate Corporate Accountability Act. While we lost our sponsored bill to hold corporate polluters accountable, we were up against big money and power and won big by getting the bill to a point where it was one vote short of passing the Legislature — against all odds! Most major climate legislation takes years to pass, and in the face of the largest corporations opposing our efforts, we were just one vote shy of passing this major policy. SB 260 proves that accountability works and that the politics are shifting in the Legislature towards a climate focused majority.
*AB 2133 (Quirk): Accelerating 2030 greenhouse gas reduction targets from 40% to 55% below 1990 levels by 2030, which would have put California ahead of the federal government’s target.
AB 2201 (Bennett): Community Drinking Water Protection Act
AB 1931 (Luz Rivas): Protecting Californians from Toxic Lead Pipes
AB 2026 (Friedman): E-Commerce Plastic Packaging Reduction Act
AB 2076 (Luz Rivas): Extreme Heat and Community Resilience Program
AB 2419 (Bryan): California Justice40 Act
AB 1778 (Cristina Garcia): Protecting Communities Overburdened with Toxic Air and Housing Insecurity from Freeway Pollution
AB 2237 (Friedman): Sustainable Local Transportation Planning
AB 2597 (Bloom): Healthy and Heat Resilient Homes
AB 2840 (Reyes): Warehouse Good Neighbor Policy
SB 953 (Min): Ending Offshore Oil Drilling in State Waters
SB 1173 (Gonzalez): State Divestment of the Fossil Fuel Industry
SB 1423 (Stern): Closing Loopholes for Oil & Gas Development on California’s Coast
SB 1486 (Stern): Clean Energy Jobs, Coordination and Community Safety Through Aliso Canyon Closure Act
*Part of the Climate Package