California Legislators: “Resilient Recovery” Critical to Bolstering Economy and Environment Against Future Pandemic and Climate Disasters
SACRAMENTO – A coalition of California state legislators today urged the co-chairs of Governor Newsom’s newly formed Task Force on Business and Jobs Recovery to consider a “resilience” framework that bolsters the state’s ability to overcome pending climate disasters in addition to COVID-19 and future pandemics.
The bicameral group who sent the letter to Governor Newsom’s Chief of Staff, Ann O’Leary, and new Chief Advisor to the Governor on Business and Jobs Recovery, Tom Steyer, includes Senators Ben Allen, Bob Archuleta, Jim Beall, Bill Dodd, Maria Elena Durazo, Connie Leyva, Bill Monning, Anthony Portantino, Nancy Skinner, Henry Stern, Bob Wieckowski and Scott Wiener and Assemblymembers Eduardo Garcia, Rebecca Bauer-Kahan, Richard Bloom, Laura Friedman, Todd Gloria, Tasha Boerner Horvath, Ash Kalra and Robert Rivas. These key legislators and committee chairs have been leading the Legislature’s effort to push California’s first climate change bond onto the November ballot.
The legislators issued a warning to O’Leary and Steyer of “compound crises” from COVID-19 and climate change, which are already being felt in the deadly superstorms in the Southeast and will impact California through the impending mega-drought and wildfire season. The letter urges that the Governor’s recovery plan focus on “resilience” as “the investments we make and the additional jobs we create must be high-quality and durable enough to survive a dynamic future of work and an increasingly high-risk climate future.”
Their proposed framework for a resilient recovery seeks creative new funding streams to pay for investments in clean energy, housing, transportation, water, natural resources, waste recycling and agriculture, including a larger statewide resilience bond, new federal funding, additional state support for California’s Infrastructure Bank and tax increment financing at the local level.
Legislators also suggested no-cost measures to accelerate job creation through expedited delivery of key projects like electric vehicle charging infrastructure, water recycling plants, lithium recovery for battery manufacturing and localized generation of renewable energy in areas that have been experiencing power shutoffs from wildfires.
Lastly, recognizing concerns from those living in or near poverty who have been hardest hit by COVID-19 and climate change, the coalition urged that the resilient recovery avoid rolling back key environmental and health regulations and focus on keeping workers employed, with livable wages and benefits, providing better support for small businesses and targeting benefits towards the most disadvantaged communities.