Green California

The CLCV Education Fund has pioneered a new process designed to increase collaboration and strategic coordination among environmental lobbyists working on state policy in Sacramento.

Through the CLCV Ed Fund–led "Green California" group, environmental advocates representing over 50 organizations identify priority legislation, effectively communicate priorities to our legislative colleagues, and marshal the collective resources and organizational membership—over 1 million Californians—in support of strong policies that address some the state’s most pressing environmental issues in the legislature. To work more effectively with legislators, we identify priority bills at strategic times during the session, as key legislative deadlines approach. The results have been overwhelmingly positive.

In 2006, for the first time ever, the environmental community communicated the bills we identified as priorities to legislative leaders at a number of critical points during the 2006 legislative session. Of the twenty-eight bills the Green California group identified as priorities in the final days of the 2006 legislative session, nineteen made it to the Governor’s desk, a significant improvement over 2005’s mediocre legislative performance. Of those nineteen, ten were signed into law.

On December 4, 2006, the CLCV Education Fund held our second annual Environmental Collaboration Summit. Over 90 advocates representing 53 organizations met to review the process and develop new ideas for 2007. Assemblymember Hector De La Torre and Senator Alan Lowenthal provided frank feedback on legislators’ perceptions of the environmental community and suggested ways to increase our effectiveness.

The Collaboration Summit was a huge success, and we have received tremendous feedback from legislators and our colleagues on this new collaborative process. Though it is a project designed to be effective in the long term, in its first year it has led to more collaboration among environmental lobbyists in Sacramento and improved legislative results. “Ultimately, we’d like to focus our efforts on a small number of very large-scale policy priorities from the outset of the legislative session,” notes Katy Rexford, CLCV Outreach Program Manager.

Top priorities for the 2007 legislative session

1. Bond Implementation: Smart Investments for a Cleaner California

California voters expect that the money they approved will be well spent. Green California urges the Legislature to give priority to bond proposals that direct funding to projects that promote improved state environmental and public health goals, including:

• Combat Global Warming—Direct funds to projects that maximizes greenhouse gas reductions, including projects that reduce Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT), with the aim of achieving a reduction in VMT per household of at least 10% in the state’s more heavily populated areas;
• Housing Choice and Affordability—Direct funds designated for “urban infill” to infrastructure and projects that provide significant affordable housing opportunities in sites close to transit, transportation, and other community amenities;
• Energy and Water Efficiency—Direct funds to projects that incorporate energy efficiency and water use efficiency;
• Farmland and Habitat Protection—Direct funds to provide incentives for regional and local plans that steer development away from significant farmlands and habitats; and
• Green Schools—Direct funds to schools that do not promote inefficient development and that employ green building standards.

2. Climate Change: Step up the Challenge

Landmark global warming bills AB 32 (Núñez, Pavley) and SB 1368 (Perata) are critical first steps to stop climate change. Green California urges the Legislature to manage our water supply and natural resources with a careful eye toward global warming changes and to reduce emissions from the transportation sector—the single biggest source of greenhouse gas pollution in the state.

• Sound Water Management, Not More Dams—Oppose calls for more dams on California’s rivers. While a changing climate and reduced Sierra snow pack may require new water management strategies, emphasis should be on conservation, recycling and groundwater storage.
• Delta Protection—Support efforts to revitalize the fragile delta ecosystem. Sea level rise and strengthening storms threaten this area.
• Clean and Efficient Transportation Choices—Support efforts to clean up our fuel choices and encourage cleaner and more efficient transportation choices, including everything from increasing the availability of clean fuel options to making consumer car choices more varied and accessible.

3. Protect our State Parks

California is home to the largest state park system in the nation. The 278 state parks provide incredible recreational opportunities, low-cost vacation destinations, protection of habitat and open space, and commemorate some of the state’s most important cultural and historic resources. Yet these treasures, which are intended to be available in perpetuity, are often the target of development and other damaging proposals. In fact, four pending proposals are threatening to site some of the most damaging projects our state parks have faced, including;

• A toll-way in a state park in San Diego County,
• Casino proposals affecting three state parks on the North Coast,
• Mega dairies impacting a state park in the San Joaquin Valley, and
• New transmission corridors through a serene state park in the Desert.

Green California urges the Legislature to pass bills to protect these lands and make it clear that State Park designation means protection in perpetuity.

We encourage you to get involved in the groups that comprise Green California.

© 2008 California League of Conservation Voters Education Fund.