Cal Cities and partners push for climate-safe infrastructure priorities in the Cap-and-Trade negotiations
By Melissa Sparks-Kranz, legislative advocate
Today, Cal Cities joined a coalition of business, labor, local government, and transit agencies urging state leaders to prioritize climate-safe infrastructure improvements during debates over the Cap-and-Trade Program’s future. The move comes in response to Gov. Gavin Newsom and the Legislature committing to reauthorizing the program before its 2030 expiration.
How does the Cap-and-Trade program impact cities?
High-emitting businesses, which represent roughly three-quarters of the state’s emissions, must reduce greenhouse gases. However, they can buy a limited number of credits each year — the “cap” — from the California Air Resources Board (CARB) to cover their emissions. The process creates a market price for the credits, with auction proceeds going toward the state’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund.
The fund has generated roughly $30 billion over the last ten years, often distributed to cities and others as grants for transit, rail, transportation, air quality, affordable housing, safe drinking water, and organic waste programs.
“Cap-and-Trade funding is helping us build resilient and sustainable cities that we need for the future of this great state,” said Carolyn Coleman, Executive Director and CEO of the League of California Cities. “It is also a critical source of investment in clean transportation options to help us fight back against climate change.”
What are Cal Cities’ priorities?
Cal Cities believes that the state must prioritize providing incentives to local governments that are working diligently to carry out its housing and climate goals. Future investments and projects from the program should maximize emission reductions, enhance climate-safe infrastructure, bolster sustainability and resilience to climate change impacts, and speed up progress toward climate commitments.
The top priorities for Cal Cities within the coalition include:
- Local clean transportation and transit infrastructure
- Climate adaptation programs, sea level rise, and organic waste infrastructure
- Land use/infill development for affordable housing and sustainable communities
The Climate Safe Infrastructure Coalition — led by the Alliance for Jobs, Cal Cities, California State Association of Counties, and California Transit Association — is emphasizing the need to invest in proven projects that reduce the greatest amount of greenhouse gas emissions, make Californians safer and more resilient to the impacts of climate change, and support good paying jobs.
What recent changes did the Governor propose?
During his May Revision, Newsom announced a proposal to earmark a significant amount of the program’s funding, leaving less for cities. He wants to reauthorize the program until 2045 to align with the state’s carbon neutrality goals and argued that high-speed rail should receive $1 billion annually from the fund. He also proposed sweeping up $1.5 billion each year (scaling up to $1.9 billion by 2030) to cover CalFire’s operational costs.
Ironically, the Governor dubbed a renaming of the program to cap and invest. The now accelerated reauthorization negotiations have a newfound sense of urgency since the Legislature must address the Governor’s proposal to earmark the fund to help close the budget deficit.
Lawmakers will likely hammer out a long-term vision for the program through the end of the legislative session, as the Governor committed to working on the detailed investment plan in the final months after the budget deal.
For the full press release and more additional information on the coalition and its priorities and more additional information on the coalition and its priorities, visit ClimateSafeInfrastructureCA.com and follow on Facebook and X (formerly Twitter).