The Climate Center

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Tell Governor Newsom to Stand Up for Climate Action at COP30

Governor Newsom at UN Climate Week in 2023, where he committed to sign SB 253 and 261. Photo: Office of the California Governor.

This year’s United Nations climate conference, COP30 in Belém, Brazil, will bring together world leaders to share how they’re tackling climate change back home. With an anti-science, pro-oil president, the world is counting on California to step up on climate. California leaders, and especially Governor Newsom, must defend California’s climate progress against attacks from the … Read more

Categories Carbon Drawdown Community Energy Resilience Fossil Fuels
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Tell California leaders to listen to voters and invest in nature-based climate solutions

Update as of 9/16/25: The California legislature allocated the climate bond funds! Close to 1,000 members of The Climate Center community took action to ensure that Prop 4 funds would be allocated. Thank you for your advocacy. In the 2024 election, California voters approved a historic $10 billion climate bond, Prop 4, by a 60-40 … Read more

Categories Carbon Drawdown Climate Justice Climate Targets
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Tell Governor Newsom to protect workers and communities as refineries close

As California continues to clean up air and climate pollution, oil refineries will inevitably close. With wind and solar already more economically competitive than fossil fuels, the transition to a clean energy economy is already underway; it’s just a question of how we get there. Will it be a smooth or bumpy road? The abrupt, … Read more

Categories Fossil Fuels Just Transition
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Urge Governor Newsom to use electric vehicles for cheap, reliable electricity

Californians are facing the twin crises of soaring utility bills and unreliable electricity. Wildfires, heatwaves, and other climate-fueled extreme weather events pose an increasing threat to the reliability and resilience of our electrical grid.  Electricity rates continue to climb as corporate utilities spend on expensive grid infrastructure upgrades. In addition, utilities are using climate-polluting “peaker” … Read more

Categories Community Energy Resilience Transportation
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Reducing Consumer Costs in California

Performance-Based Regulation for Investor-Owned Utilities

California faces an electricity affordability crisis, with rates soaring far beyond national averages and contributing to financial distress for many households. In order to build a cleaner, more reliable, and more affordable energy system, California policymakers should look to performance-based regulation. What is performance-based regulation? Performance-based regulation (PBR) describes a set of policy tools that … Read more

Categories Clean Energy Community Energy Resilience Energy Efficiency
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Tell California leaders: No more giveaways for Big Oil through Cap and Trade

Oil pumpjack on fire. Photo by Canva.

Update as of 9/16/25: State lawmakers have reauthorized Cap and Trade, now referred to as Cap and Invest, through 2045 by passing legislation in the Assembly and Senate, AB 1207 and SB 840. The Climate Center played a lead role in advocating for improvements to the state’s flagship emissions reduction program in the reauthorization process. This … Read more

Categories Fossil Fuels
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Pass the Polluters Pay Climate Superfund Act to make polluters pay for climate destruction

The Polluters Pay Climate Superfund Act, introduced as SB 684 (Menjivar) in the Senate and AB 1243 (Addis) in the Assembly, would ensure that polluters pay their fair share for the climate damage they have caused in California. The firestorm in Los Angeles is only the latest in a string of unprecedented climate disasters that … Read more

Categories Fossil Fuels
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Tell Governor Newsom and state leaders: Eliminate fossil fuel subsidies and prioritize climate investments

Gavin Newsom by Charlie Kaijo

California’s 2025-2026 state budget faces a $12 billion deficit but protects huge tax breaks for oil and gas corporations. After unprecedented wildfires ravaged Los Angeles only days into 2025, California must strengthen critical climate programs, not cut them. Every dollar we invest in fighting the climate crisis today will save lives! We’ve seen what happens … Read more

Categories Fossil Fuels
| Report

Water’s Edge Tax Haven and California’s Budget Shortfall

How Oil and Gas Majors Crafted a Tax Avoidance Policy Contributing to Ongoing Budget Woes

Oil tankers at the Port of Long Beach.

This report details how global oil majors like ExxonMobil, Chevron, and Shell orchestrated the creation of California’s Water’s Edge tax loophole — a policy that now costs California taxpayers billions annually. It offers a first-of-its-kind, historical look at how oil giants lobbied for and have benefited from the Water’s Edge tax election, shielding their profits … Read more

Categories Climate Justice Fossil Fuels
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Tell California’s leaders to stand up for climate action

Climate Rally in Sacramento

What we do in California to address the climate crisis has a ripple effect across the world. With a climate-denying, pro-oil president waging war on federal climate action, California’s climate leadership is more important than ever. The administration is attacking federal climate progress at every level. On his first day in office, the new president … Read more

Categories Clean Energy Fossil Fuels Natural Carbon Sequestration