Welcome Senator Monique Limón! We are thrilled and honored to award you with this year’s California Climate Leadership Award.
Senator Limón was elected to the Senate in November 2020 and represents Santa Barbara County, most of Ventura County, and part of San Luis Obispo County.
Senator Limón is a leader among leaders. She is Chair of the Senate Democratic Caucus, Vice Chair of the Legislative Women’s Caucus, Chair of the Natural Resources and Water Committee, and this year is leading the Senate Working Group on Cap and Trade while carrying a bill on Cap and Trade reform. She is also a member of the Joint Legislative Committee on Climate Change, and we were honored that she attended the UN Climate Conference COP28 in Dubai in 2023 with The Climate Center as part of the California delegation.
A friend and Sacramento insider described her superpower as being able to talk with and negotiate with everybody.
She was born and raised in the Santa Barbara area. Before serving in the State Senate, Senator Limón served for four years in the State Assembly.
Education has always been a priority for the senator. A UC Berkeley graduate with a Master’s degree from Columbia University, she served six years on the Santa Barbara Unified School Board and as Assistant Director for the McNair Scholars Program at UC Santa Barbara prior to serving in the state legislature.
Senator Limón has accomplished a lot in her career. Tonight, I will highlight some of the things she has done to build California’s climate leadership and to support the movement for a climate-safe future.
- She was one of the lead authors on SB 867, the climate bond, a $10 billion investment in climate priorities that was later passed by California voters. She worked hard to make sure this legislation got before voters. It is a historic investment, even more important now that we have an anti-climate administration in Washington.
- Senator Limón worked on the state budget to protect climate priorities over the last two years, at a time when the administration had proposed some deep cuts and many delays in spending as the state faced a deficit.
- She was a lead author with Lena Gonzalez of SB 1137, which was signed into law in 2023. This law required 3,500-foot setbacks between oil and gas operations and “sensitive receptors” — like day care and elder care facilities, schools, and homes. The oil industry fought back, putting the law on pause while they ran a ballot initiative against it. But the law was finally put into effect when the oil industry withdrew the ballot initiative, a major victory for the environment and local communities impacted by the oil and gas industry.
- Senator Limón authored AB 1057, which reformed the Division of Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Resources (DOGGR) and renamed it the Geologic Energy Management Division (CalGEM) in 2020, with a focus on public health, safety, environmental protection, and California’s transition to a low-carbon future.
- She was the author of SB 47, which authorizes the CalGEM to collect and spend up to $5 million per year to plug abandoned and deserted oil wells. These wells are a source of methane pollution, which is a virulent greenhouse gas, and other toxic emissions. SB 47 ensures taxpayers don’t bear the brunt of plugging abandoned and deserted oil wells.
- And at a time when we need to become more innovative in preventing catastrophic wildfires, Senator Limón got SB 675 signed by the governor. The law expands the use of ecological grazing as a nature-based wildfire solution and directs the state’s Wildfire and Forest Resilience Task Force to develop a plan to expand the use of ecological grazing near communities.
There are numerous other climate and clean energy bills that she has supported and voted for as she has forwarded climate action and environmental justice in California.
On behalf of our entire community, we honor you, Senator Limón, for your hard work, public service, and accomplishments in service of California, healthy communities and ecosystems, and a planet where our children and grandchildren can thrive.
Please join me in congratulating and thanking Senator Limón with the 2025 California Climate Leadership Award! Thank you for your outstanding service and leadership.
