May 15: Action (do one thing TONIGHT) & updates
We hope your windy May is going well. Here are some action opportunities and updates for you.
Action opportunities
Matt Haney needs to hear from you! Twice.
But if you do just one thing tonight - and you live on the east side of San Francisco - contact your State Assemblymember Haney to keep a partial antidote to the Utility Tax alive. I know this is insanely late, sorry!
1. Stop the Big Utility Tax and pass AB 1999 by voting TOMORROW
Things are moving fast! TOMORROW, Assemblymember Haney is scheduled to vote on AB 1999, the bill to at least contain the big Utility Tax. If the bill does not pass, the CPUC's $24/month Utility Tax will remain uncapped, and likely grow to $70/month or more over the next few years. Analysts say this will increase utility bills on people who live in apartments, condos, and smaller homes that don’t use a lot of energy, and also discourage energy conservation, efficiency, and rooftop solar.
Call (916) 319-2017 or email Haney from his website (fill in your info and select “Comment on Bill or Legislation” as the issue). Suggested message:
Please support AB 1999 as amended. AB 1999 would Stop the Big Utility Tax.
The Utility Tax passed last week by the CPUC will increase bills on four million households. The people most harmed will be renters, seniors, and people who have solar panels. The Utility Tax is completely uncapped and the utilities want it to increase to $70 or more. Please put a cap on this Utility Tax before it gets even more out-of-control. Thank you.
AB 1999 sunsets the entire tax in 2028. We would rather repeal the whole thing, but this is the choice we have. Please call or email now!
2. Make housing bill AB 3068 even better
AB 3068, authored by Haney, will support conversions of vacant office space into housing - and unlike other bills, this one would actually create some positive results. See Chronicle article by Joe Garofoli from May 6, YIMBYs and preservationists actually agree on a California bill to create more housing.
However, AB 3068 currently says nothing about natural gas. It is essential to meeting climate goals that we take every opportunity to eliminate gas infrastructure. Please call (916) 319-2017 or email Haney from his website (fill in your info and select “Comment on Bill or Legislation” as the issue).
Simply ask him to add a clause to AB 3068 saying incentives don't apply if a developer tries to run natural gas into new housing units created. That’s it.
President Biden: Declare a Climate Emergency already!
While President Biden and Congress have taken steps to address the climate crisis, we now need something unprecedented: President Biden must declare a climate emergency under the National Emergencies Act, unlocking federal powers to stifle oil development by
Please sign the petition, sponsored by Sunrise Movement - which, along with hundreds of others, including SFCEC, signed an organizational letter to the President & advisors with the same request. Mr. President, It’s (past) time.
In-person Climate Café Tuesday, May 21, 5:15 - 6:45pm.Climate Cafés are safe gatherings bringing together people experiencing the wide range of feelings, thoughts and emotions associated with awareness of the climate and environmental destruction. Dr. Robin Cooper and Ceci Walken, LMFT, will be leading this in-person sharing space (this is not therapy but a group supportive experience). “We in the mental health field know that these ‘big feelings’ can be better managed and that long term active engagement can be facilitated by sharing these with others,”
Meet at the Pritzer building near UCSF Mission Bay campus (address will be given when you RSVP by emailing [email protected] ).
Updates
Sometimes we win!
💚 Thanks again to the 35 organizations signing our letter urging the mayor to maintain threatened budgeting for staff positions at SF Environment. Thanks also to the nearly 90 of you who sent individual letters! The mayor’s office responded that the funding will be ongoing. So, those employees can continue to bring in and manage grant money critical to enacting the City’s Climate Action plan.
💚 We sent another letter to the mayor, joining 1000 Grandmothers for Future Generations, asking her to approve $500K in General Fund Reserves (a sort of rainy-day emergency fund) for to the SF Public Utilities Commission for independent analysis and research on sea level rise and groundwater impacts in the Hunters Point Shipyard in Fiscal Year 2023-24. Current science concludes that climate change, resulting in rising sea levels, affects groundwater and may cause the invasion of toxic substances in sewers and ground surfaces near shorelines.
Supervisor Walton sponsored this Civil Grand Jury recommendation. The Budget and Appropriations Committee gave unanimous approval, as did the Board of Supervisors. The mayor, who had initially rejected the Civil Grand Jury's recommendations for the Shipyard, came around this time.
Climate Week happened, and we were there.
Amid many corporate- and tech-focused events, the activities that SF CEC participated in involved mostly connecting with grassroots activists and seekers.
We marched at People’s Earth Day in support of All Things Bayview. The next day we tabled at EarthDaySF, explaining the Climate Action Plan and what we do to try to make sure it’s carried out.
Our members helped at the Environment Department’s Climate Equity Hub launch, explaining health benefits of, and incentives available for, electrifying your home. The Hub begins in the Bayview - portable induction cooktops were given away at the launch! - with the goal of expanding to locations citywide, in-person and on its upcoming website.
We also collaborated with Citizens’ Climate Lobby SF chapter for a Climate Advocacy Happy Hour.
Another Climate Advocacy Happy HourThursday May 23, 6pm - 7:30pm, at Southern Pacific Brewing, 629 Treat Ave, CCL-SF and SF Transit Riders will cosponsor with us. We will each present current climate-friendly policies we support, and participants will have the opportunity to take action.
🌱And, as always, if you would like to attend our monthly last-Wednesday steering committee zoom, just reply to this email. Thanks!
Yours in optimism & action,
SF Climate Emergency Coalition
Action opportunities
Matt Haney needs to hear from you! Twice.
But if you do just one thing tonight - and you live on the east side of San Francisco - contact your State Assemblymember Haney to keep a partial antidote to the Utility Tax alive. I know this is insanely late, sorry!
1. Stop the Big Utility Tax and pass AB 1999 by voting TOMORROW
Things are moving fast! TOMORROW, Assemblymember Haney is scheduled to vote on AB 1999, the bill to at least contain the big Utility Tax. If the bill does not pass, the CPUC's $24/month Utility Tax will remain uncapped, and likely grow to $70/month or more over the next few years. Analysts say this will increase utility bills on people who live in apartments, condos, and smaller homes that don’t use a lot of energy, and also discourage energy conservation, efficiency, and rooftop solar.
Call (916) 319-2017 or email Haney from his website (fill in your info and select “Comment on Bill or Legislation” as the issue). Suggested message:
Please support AB 1999 as amended. AB 1999 would Stop the Big Utility Tax.
The Utility Tax passed last week by the CPUC will increase bills on four million households. The people most harmed will be renters, seniors, and people who have solar panels. The Utility Tax is completely uncapped and the utilities want it to increase to $70 or more. Please put a cap on this Utility Tax before it gets even more out-of-control. Thank you.
AB 1999 sunsets the entire tax in 2028. We would rather repeal the whole thing, but this is the choice we have. Please call or email now!
2. Make housing bill AB 3068 even better
AB 3068, authored by Haney, will support conversions of vacant office space into housing - and unlike other bills, this one would actually create some positive results. See Chronicle article by Joe Garofoli from May 6, YIMBYs and preservationists actually agree on a California bill to create more housing.
However, AB 3068 currently says nothing about natural gas. It is essential to meeting climate goals that we take every opportunity to eliminate gas infrastructure. Please call (916) 319-2017 or email Haney from his website (fill in your info and select “Comment on Bill or Legislation” as the issue).
Simply ask him to add a clause to AB 3068 saying incentives don't apply if a developer tries to run natural gas into new housing units created. That’s it.
President Biden: Declare a Climate Emergency already!
While President Biden and Congress have taken steps to address the climate crisis, we now need something unprecedented: President Biden must declare a climate emergency under the National Emergencies Act, unlocking federal powers to stifle oil development by
- Reinstating the crude oil export ban.
- Ending new fossil fuel projects and drilling.
- Investing disaster relief funds in renewable energy for frontline communities.
- Pushing companies to accelerate clean energy solutions.
Please sign the petition, sponsored by Sunrise Movement - which, along with hundreds of others, including SFCEC, signed an organizational letter to the President & advisors with the same request. Mr. President, It’s (past) time.
In-person Climate Café Tuesday, May 21, 5:15 - 6:45pm.Climate Cafés are safe gatherings bringing together people experiencing the wide range of feelings, thoughts and emotions associated with awareness of the climate and environmental destruction. Dr. Robin Cooper and Ceci Walken, LMFT, will be leading this in-person sharing space (this is not therapy but a group supportive experience). “We in the mental health field know that these ‘big feelings’ can be better managed and that long term active engagement can be facilitated by sharing these with others,”
Meet at the Pritzer building near UCSF Mission Bay campus (address will be given when you RSVP by emailing [email protected] ).
Updates
Sometimes we win!
💚 Thanks again to the 35 organizations signing our letter urging the mayor to maintain threatened budgeting for staff positions at SF Environment. Thanks also to the nearly 90 of you who sent individual letters! The mayor’s office responded that the funding will be ongoing. So, those employees can continue to bring in and manage grant money critical to enacting the City’s Climate Action plan.
💚 We sent another letter to the mayor, joining 1000 Grandmothers for Future Generations, asking her to approve $500K in General Fund Reserves (a sort of rainy-day emergency fund) for to the SF Public Utilities Commission for independent analysis and research on sea level rise and groundwater impacts in the Hunters Point Shipyard in Fiscal Year 2023-24. Current science concludes that climate change, resulting in rising sea levels, affects groundwater and may cause the invasion of toxic substances in sewers and ground surfaces near shorelines.
Supervisor Walton sponsored this Civil Grand Jury recommendation. The Budget and Appropriations Committee gave unanimous approval, as did the Board of Supervisors. The mayor, who had initially rejected the Civil Grand Jury's recommendations for the Shipyard, came around this time.
Climate Week happened, and we were there.
Amid many corporate- and tech-focused events, the activities that SF CEC participated in involved mostly connecting with grassroots activists and seekers.
We marched at People’s Earth Day in support of All Things Bayview. The next day we tabled at EarthDaySF, explaining the Climate Action Plan and what we do to try to make sure it’s carried out.
Our members helped at the Environment Department’s Climate Equity Hub launch, explaining health benefits of, and incentives available for, electrifying your home. The Hub begins in the Bayview - portable induction cooktops were given away at the launch! - with the goal of expanding to locations citywide, in-person and on its upcoming website.
We also collaborated with Citizens’ Climate Lobby SF chapter for a Climate Advocacy Happy Hour.
Another Climate Advocacy Happy HourThursday May 23, 6pm - 7:30pm, at Southern Pacific Brewing, 629 Treat Ave, CCL-SF and SF Transit Riders will cosponsor with us. We will each present current climate-friendly policies we support, and participants will have the opportunity to take action.
🌱And, as always, if you would like to attend our monthly last-Wednesday steering committee zoom, just reply to this email. Thanks!
Yours in optimism & action,
SF Climate Emergency Coalition
April 12: The Mayor's promise, and other climate action for April
April is full of opportunities to connect with each other and the planet we all call home.
🌱 Earth Month: Tell the Mayor to keep crucial SF Environment staff working!
Earth Month happens to be the month that the Mayor is finalizing her budget proposal. Well, we have a proposal for her. SFCEC, with 34 other organizations, has sent her a letter urging her to keep the promise she implied last year: continuing funding for seven permanent staffers crucial to implementing the city’s Climate Action Plan. Now that money appears no longer to be guaranteed.
The Mayor needs to hear from a lot of us - individuals as well as groups - that we care about addressing the climate emergency, as well as all the other crises the city faces. Including the budget deficit. The employees in question have been bringing in state and federal grant money far exceeding the cost of their salaries and must be given a chance to continue to do so.. Cutting them to save money now will cost so much more in the future as the planet warms and those least able to cope are most severely affected. Info and easy letter-writing tool here.
The Mayor needs to hear from a lot of us - individuals as well as groups - that we care about addressing the climate emergency, as well as all the other crises the city faces. Including the budget deficit. The employees in question have been bringing in state and federal grant money far exceeding the cost of their salaries and must be given a chance to continue to do so.. Cutting them to save money now will cost so much more in the future as the planet warms and those least able to cope are most severely affected. Info and easy letter-writing tool here.
🌎 Sat April 20, 12pm-3pm: Bayview Hunters Point Community People’s Earth Day
Join the All Things Bayview Team for a Peace Walk and Environmental Justice Rally, especially aimed at inspiring young activists to fight for their future. Begin at Bayview Plaza, 3801 Third St, and end outside Hunters Point Shipyard Artists studios at 451 Galvez. Join the campaign for a clean, equitable and livable Bayview!
🌱 Earth Day SF, Sunday April 21, 11am-7pm
Come table with us! The biggest event of Climate Week is at The New Farm 10 Cargo Way, right by Heron’s Head Park: a festival of speakers, workshops, music, food, making art, and inspiring hope for our children’s future (more info here). At our table, people can hand-write postcards to the Mayor, which we will deliver, or use the easy letter-writing tool mentioned above. We will be increasing our outreach by telling folks what we’ve been up to, and signing them up to receive future action alerts. If you would like to hang out with us and maybe help out for an hour or two anytime between 11 and 7, please reply to this email. Thanks!
🌎 Thurs April 23, 6pm: Climate Advocacy Happy Hour
Southern Pacific Brewing, 620 Treat Ave. Like I always say, no matter how potentially deadly the issue, advocacy can be fun. Join SFCEC, Citizens’ Climate Lobby SF and others tbd to hear about opportunities to take immediate action that very night, while making new friends. Register & get more info here. (Oops, the event just got full, but you can join the waitlist. Please do!)
🌎 Sat April 27, 10am-2pm: Climate Equity Hub Launch!
As part of a celebration of the EcoCenter atHeron’s Head Park, 32 Jennings St, the eagerly-anticipated Climate Equity Hub begins life in the Bayview, with plans to expand to other locations across the City. The Ecocenter will showcase heat pump equipment and portable induction stoves to demonstrate the benefits of emissions-free homes.
A local chef will host an induction-cooking demo with free samples; Physicians for Social Responsibility will provide information about the health impacts of gas equipment; QuitCarbon will help residents develop a plan to electrify their homes. Audience members who visit every info station will be eligible for a free portable induction cooktop, and income-qualified residents will also have the chance to sign up for a free heat pump water heater. The event also includes outdoor activities organized by SF Rec & Park.
One more thing, also during Climate Week but not an official part of it:
A local chef will host an induction-cooking demo with free samples; Physicians for Social Responsibility will provide information about the health impacts of gas equipment; QuitCarbon will help residents develop a plan to electrify their homes. Audience members who visit every info station will be eligible for a free portable induction cooktop, and income-qualified residents will also have the chance to sign up for a free heat pump water heater. The event also includes outdoor activities organized by SF Rec & Park.
One more thing, also during Climate Week but not an official part of it:
Thurs April 25,10am: Public Power in SF webinar
San Francisco's effort to purchase the local electricity grid from PG&E is to provide residents with more affordable electric rates, cleaner energy, and greater investment in the local community. Sign up to learn more about why San Francisco is pursuing public power, where we are in the process, and how you can get involved in this campaign. Register here for the SFPUC-sponsored Zoom webinar.
Yours for an inspiring rest of the month,
SF Climate Emergency Coalition
P.s. - SFCEC steering committee meets the last Wednesday of every month on Zoom to update and plot. If you'd like to join us to find out more about what we do, just reply to this email. Next meeting is Wed Apr 24 at 7pm.
Yours for an inspiring rest of the month,
SF Climate Emergency Coalition
P.s. - SFCEC steering committee meets the last Wednesday of every month on Zoom to update and plot. If you'd like to join us to find out more about what we do, just reply to this email. Next meeting is Wed Apr 24 at 7pm.
March 15: Curbside charging, shipyard cleanup, solar energy
Here are a few actions you can take if the spirit moves you.
Rally to support a public EV curbside-charging pilot program
Tuesday, March 19, 9:30-10am, City Hall front steps.
Rally and press conference as Supervisor Mandelman introduces a resolution in support of a new, public electric-vehicle curbside-charging pilot program, a joint project of the SF Environment Department and the SF Municipal Transportation Agency.
San Francisco’s public EV charging infrastructure isn’t keeping pace with the growing demand for access, e.g., from people who might consider an EV but have no garage.
Speakers:
Rafael Mandelman, Supervisor, City & County of San Francisco
Tyrone Jue, Director, SF Environment Department
Jeff Tumlin, Director, SFMTA
Sarah Ching-Ting Wan, President, SF Commission on the Environment
Marc Geller, Co-Founder, Golden Gate Electric Vehicle Association
Additional speakers TBD
Come show your support! Our City departments need to know we want expanded access to EV charging in every neighborhood. You can also make a public comment at the Board of Supervisors meeting later that day. The agenda will be available here.
Demand a FULL cleanup (finally!) of the Hunters Point Naval Shipyard Superfund Site
The Navy's draft Five Year Statutory Review, required by Federal Superfund Law, is supposed to evaluate whether the planned remedies for the toxic and radioactive contamination at the site will be protective of human health and the environment now and into the future. Historically, these reviews have not been adequate in their conclusions, continuing to claim that capping contamination at this shoreline site will be protective when it is well-known that sea level rise and groundwater rise will result in flooding of contaminants (see SF Civil Grand Jury report from 2022). Greenaction and community residents have succeeded in getting the Navy to finally address this issue. Read the recent SF Chronicle article here.
We must still continue to demand a complete cleanup that does not include capping toxic and radioactive waste. Tell theUS EPA, CalEPA, and DTSC (Department of Toxic Substances Control) to require the Navy to rework its current remediation methods to exclude the practice of merely capping the contaminants. Please write to express your support: Click here for the relevant recipients, email addresses and message template.
The Bayview Hunters Point community deserves to be free from environmental racism, including exposure to toxic and radioactive contamination.
We must still continue to demand a complete cleanup that does not include capping toxic and radioactive waste. Tell theUS EPA, CalEPA, and DTSC (Department of Toxic Substances Control) to require the Navy to rework its current remediation methods to exclude the practice of merely capping the contaminants. Please write to express your support: Click here for the relevant recipients, email addresses and message template.
The Bayview Hunters Point community deserves to be free from environmental racism, including exposure to toxic and radioactive contamination.
Stop the CPUC from blocking California’s clean energy progress
The infamous California Public Utilities Commission continues its assault on the formerly burgeoning solar industry, doing the bidding of the private utilities it’s supposed to regulate. Two recent examples and what you can do:
• Email the CPUC to protect Community Solar & Storage. The CPUC’s recent proposed decision rejects the Net Value Billing Tariff (NVBT) community solar and storage proposal championed by a broad coalition of environmental justice, labor, developers, and affordability advocates. The NVBT would enable customers to benefit from thousands of low-cost clean and reliable projects, including storage to help boost grid reliability, and importantly, to provide a clean energy option to the millions of Californians who rent or otherwise aren’t able to install a solar system directly.
As a member of the public, you can contact the CPUC directly and insist that this proposed decision be amended to unlock equitable community solar and storage access for all Californians, safely retire polluting gas plants in overburdened communities, and put the State in a better position for securing time-sensitive federal funding. This is what to do, after you click here for the direct contact page:
• Call legislators to stop the Big Utility (and yet another solar) Tax. SFCEC has signed on to a letter to the state Legislature and the Governor in strong opposition to the “Utility Tax” provision deviously embedded into last-minute Budget Trailer Bill AB 205, and in support of a new bill (AB 1999, below). Such budget trailers are rushed through the Legislature and quickly signed by the Governor; by the time lawmakers find out what’s really in them, it’s too late. That’s how AB 205 passed - mandating electricity charges based on income as well as electricity use. All three San Francisco state legislators joined the majority to pass that bill in 2022. AB 205 removed the existing $10 per month cap on Utility Taxes (the national average) and mandated that a Utility Tax be imposed on all ratepayers, including customers of CCAs. This tax is currently uncapped, so it can go up indefinitely.
The investor-owned utilities have proposed the highest fixed Utility Tax in the country, $30-$70 per month just for being hooked up to the grid. Even $30 per month will increase utility bills for millions of working people and retirees who live in apartments or small homes that use less electricity - and will undermine all forms of conservation. Incredibly, the proposal also includes taxing rooftop-solar users for energy produced and used onsite in real time which has never touched the grid. The CPUC is now deciding what the Utility Tax should be, making a final decision around June 2024.
Electricity prices are too high mainly due to the increasing costs of unnecessary long distance power lines, liability when those lines create wildfire risks, and generous utility profits that drive this spending. The true solution to stabilizing the high cost of electricity is to reduce our over-dependence on long-distance power lines through greater conservation and locally-produced clean energy. Some legislators have realized their mistake in voting for AB 205 and are vowing to fix it with AB 1999. The team of co-authors includes San Francisco’s Senator Scott Wiener And Assemblymember Phil Ting, but not Assemblymember Matt Haney. AB 1999 would re-cap the Utility Tax in line with the national average, averting disaster.
⌲ Thank Senator Wiener (call 916-651-4011) and Assemblymember Ting (call 916-319-2019) for co-authoring AB 1999.
My name is ____. I live in _____. I am calling to thank [Senator Wiener or Assemblymember Ting] for co-authoring AB 1999 and to urge him to continue to do everything in his power to block the proposed Utility and Solar Tax from the state budget. His leadership is essential. Can I count on him? Thank you.
⌲ Ask Assemblymember Haney (call 916-319-2017) to co-author AB 1999.
My name is ___. I live in District 17. I’m calling to ask Assemblymember Haney to co-author AB 1999, the bill to Stop the Big Utility Tax. Even a Utility Tax of $30 a month will increase utility bills for millions of working people who live in apartments or small homes that use less electricity. It will also discourage solar, as well as energy conservation. The legislature needs to fix its mistake by June 30th to protect millions of people from bill increases. Will Matt Haney co-author AB 1999? Thank you.
Thank YOU!SF Climate Emergency Coalition
• Email the CPUC to protect Community Solar & Storage. The CPUC’s recent proposed decision rejects the Net Value Billing Tariff (NVBT) community solar and storage proposal championed by a broad coalition of environmental justice, labor, developers, and affordability advocates. The NVBT would enable customers to benefit from thousands of low-cost clean and reliable projects, including storage to help boost grid reliability, and importantly, to provide a clean energy option to the millions of Californians who rent or otherwise aren’t able to install a solar system directly.
As a member of the public, you can contact the CPUC directly and insist that this proposed decision be amended to unlock equitable community solar and storage access for all Californians, safely retire polluting gas plants in overburdened communities, and put the State in a better position for securing time-sensitive federal funding. This is what to do, after you click here for the direct contact page:
- Enter R2008020 in the "Proceeding Number Search" field. then hit "Search."
- On the next page, click on R2008020.
- On the following page, click on "Add Public Comment" in the upper left.
- Enter your comment (sample text here), plus your name etc, then click "Submit."
• Call legislators to stop the Big Utility (and yet another solar) Tax. SFCEC has signed on to a letter to the state Legislature and the Governor in strong opposition to the “Utility Tax” provision deviously embedded into last-minute Budget Trailer Bill AB 205, and in support of a new bill (AB 1999, below). Such budget trailers are rushed through the Legislature and quickly signed by the Governor; by the time lawmakers find out what’s really in them, it’s too late. That’s how AB 205 passed - mandating electricity charges based on income as well as electricity use. All three San Francisco state legislators joined the majority to pass that bill in 2022. AB 205 removed the existing $10 per month cap on Utility Taxes (the national average) and mandated that a Utility Tax be imposed on all ratepayers, including customers of CCAs. This tax is currently uncapped, so it can go up indefinitely.
The investor-owned utilities have proposed the highest fixed Utility Tax in the country, $30-$70 per month just for being hooked up to the grid. Even $30 per month will increase utility bills for millions of working people and retirees who live in apartments or small homes that use less electricity - and will undermine all forms of conservation. Incredibly, the proposal also includes taxing rooftop-solar users for energy produced and used onsite in real time which has never touched the grid. The CPUC is now deciding what the Utility Tax should be, making a final decision around June 2024.
Electricity prices are too high mainly due to the increasing costs of unnecessary long distance power lines, liability when those lines create wildfire risks, and generous utility profits that drive this spending. The true solution to stabilizing the high cost of electricity is to reduce our over-dependence on long-distance power lines through greater conservation and locally-produced clean energy. Some legislators have realized their mistake in voting for AB 205 and are vowing to fix it with AB 1999. The team of co-authors includes San Francisco’s Senator Scott Wiener And Assemblymember Phil Ting, but not Assemblymember Matt Haney. AB 1999 would re-cap the Utility Tax in line with the national average, averting disaster.
⌲ Thank Senator Wiener (call 916-651-4011) and Assemblymember Ting (call 916-319-2019) for co-authoring AB 1999.
My name is ____. I live in _____. I am calling to thank [Senator Wiener or Assemblymember Ting] for co-authoring AB 1999 and to urge him to continue to do everything in his power to block the proposed Utility and Solar Tax from the state budget. His leadership is essential. Can I count on him? Thank you.
⌲ Ask Assemblymember Haney (call 916-319-2017) to co-author AB 1999.
My name is ___. I live in District 17. I’m calling to ask Assemblymember Haney to co-author AB 1999, the bill to Stop the Big Utility Tax. Even a Utility Tax of $30 a month will increase utility bills for millions of working people who live in apartments or small homes that use less electricity. It will also discourage solar, as well as energy conservation. The legislature needs to fix its mistake by June 30th to protect millions of people from bill increases. Will Matt Haney co-author AB 1999? Thank you.
Thank YOU!SF Climate Emergency Coalition
January 17: Looking back, looking ahead - and CCSF needs a plan!
Happy New Year!
I guess you’ve heard that 2023 was Earth’s hottest year on record. Yikes.
The best antidote for despair is activism. Here’s to making significant progress this year with our elected officials - and electing more true climate leaders with the will to look beyond their own immediate aspirations.
This November we elect a Mayor and the six Supervisors from odd-numbered districts. If you can, follow the candidates around and ask them what they plan to do to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Get public commitments
In 2023 SFCEC volunteers like you worked to convince our leaders to show up for the climate.
Over the past year, together we pushed for:
SF City College needs a climate action and sustainability plan
…..and despite efforts begun almost two decades ago, no such plan exists. As one of the largest property owners in San Francisco, CCSF must do its part to contribute to a sustainable future and a just transition to a green, all-electric City. The California Community College Board of Governors has called for each local college district to adopt a resolution to meet system-wide climate action and sustainability goals.
Over the past year, together we pushed for:
- a Climate Bond to be included in the 10-year bond schedule. See more below.
- a Budget & Appropriations Committee hearing with the Capital Planning Committee (CPC) after the Supes, thanks to your advocacy, had unanimously recommended that the CPC schedule climate bonds early in its updated 10-year lineup. The CPC response was excuse-filled and disappointing, but we didn’t give up.
- the Bay Area Air Quality Management District board of directors to adopt new rules banning the sale of new gas-powered water heaters and furnaces, beginning in 2027 and 2029 respectively. They did!
- in the absence of a climate bond per se, amending the Affordable Housing Bond on the March 2024 ballot to require that existing buildings or units designated for “preservation” (rehab and/or acquisition) be made all-electric - a first small step by the City to begin to get methane gas out of homes. But alas, although the final version does mention climate several times and entities enacting the bond’s provisions are “strongly encouraged to work collaboratively” with “local climate advocates,” it omits any actual obligation to do so.
- visits with Supervisors and staff to show them that their constituents want further and faster climate action. We met with every office but one.
- General Fund money in the Mayor’s budget to support the Climate Action Plan. Many letters were sent to the Mayor. After two years (2021, 2022) of our advocacy led to $0 in her proposed budgets for SF Environment Dept (SFE) - though we did succeed with the Supervisors later - in 2023 the Mayor finally included SFE for the first time ever, thereby providing staff needed to acquire federal and state grant funding!
- Supervisors to “add back” what the Mayor left out: funding to continue creating and ultimately to launch the Climate Equity Hub.
- The budget process concluded with advocates spending the day roaming City Hall lobbying Supervisors to save the Hub - and ultimately, they did!
SF City College needs a climate action and sustainability plan
…..and despite efforts begun almost two decades ago, no such plan exists. As one of the largest property owners in San Francisco, CCSF must do its part to contribute to a sustainable future and a just transition to a green, all-electric City. The California Community College Board of Governors has called for each local college district to adopt a resolution to meet system-wide climate action and sustainability goals.
Now, CCSF Board of Trustees President Alan Wong has submitted a Resolution Supporting a Green New Deal for City College and Adopting a Climate Action and Sustainability Plan, to be voted on by the Trustees at their meeting January 25th. SFCEC has joined 350SF and other allies to encourage our members to write or call to urge the trustees to adopt the resolution. Here is more information, plus a handy letter-writing tool.
On the horizon... and possibly requiring our attention and advocacy soon:
- electric vehicle curbside charging study and pilot program
- strengthening of the existing all-electric new construction ordinance, plus new legislation to require that major renovations be all-electric
- preventing cuts to funding allocated for SFE in last year’s budget
- a Regional Affordable Housing Bond on the November ballot