Extreme Heat Plans: Challenges of Implementation

As climate change impacts begin to take hold, one of the immediate concerns has been extreme heat. In various parts of California and the West, extreme heat events have been occurring more frequently and with more intensity. Extreme heat plans, developed to mitigate negative impacts and adapt to this new heat reality, are being implemented … Read more

| Press Release

Senate Appropriations Committee kills SB 12, holding back California’s climate ambition

Activists gather near an Inglewood Oil Field in Los Angeles, one of the largest contiguous urban oil fields in the country, to urge the Governor of California to take action to phase out fossil fuels, beginning with those within 2500 feet of homes and other sensitive sites.

SACRAMENTO — Today, the Senate Appropriations Committee held SB 12, one of the most ambitious pieces of climate legislation in California this year. Introduced by Senator Henry Stern and sponsored by The Climate Center, the bill would have required California to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55 percent below 1990 levels by 2030, … Read more

| Blog Post

From Proposition 187 to Climate Activism: How Republican Governor Pete Wilson Sparked My Political Awakening

In the movie Machete, Jessica Alba’s character Sartana Rivera says the line, “We didn’t cross the border, the border crossed us.” Though this movie was released in 2010, it was a phrase I heard often growing up, as politics was a part of the conversation at the kitchen table, given my family’s long history of … Read more

What a World Beyond Fossil Fuels Will Mean for Workers, Families, and Communities

In spite of our climate-friendly reputation, California is still a major oil and gas producer. This webinar will explore opportunities for developing an equitable, statewide plan to phase out oil and gas extraction, imports, refining, end-use, and exports in a managed decline. Managed decline means that facilities closest to sensitive receptors (like schools and homes) … Read more

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Pamela Martinez joins The Climate Center as the Community Energy Resilience Project Manager

Woman hiking with a dog

I am beyond thrilled to join The Climate Center as the Community Energy Resilience Project Manager. Prior to joining The Climate Center, I worked with the UFW Foundation in multiple roles including Community Organizer and Emergency Relief Program Manager. My passion to join the nonprofit sector began at a very young age. As farm workers, … Read more

Last Chance Alliance’s Big Oil Resistance Tour

Los Angeles, Ventura, Santa Barbara, San Diego, Kern County, Oakland, and Sacramento
Activists with Greenpeace, Oil & Gas Action Network and Regenerating Paradise gather at a burn scar site in the North Complex Fire urging Governor Newsom to take immediate action to phase out fossil fuels and end neighborhood drilling.

Big Oil bullies are ripping off Californians, polluting our air and water, poisoning our communities, and setting us on a path toward climate destruction. Governor Newsom is talking tough on Big Oil and trying to stop them from fleecing us at the gas pump. But we need him to truly move California beyond fossil fuels … Read more

| Blog Post

Welcome remarks from the 2023 California Climate Policy Summit

Welcome to the 2023 California Climate Policy Summit!  Thank you for being here today. It is inspiring to see so many climate activists and leaders from across the state — from environmental and environmental justice organizations, from local government, from the faith and healthcare communities, from business and labor — welcome! Thank you for being … Read more

| Press Release

New IPCC report calls for urgent action on climate (again)

United Nations

SAN FRANCISCO, March 20, 2023 — Earlier today, the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released its AR6 Synthesis Report. The report points to “more than a century of burning fossil fuels” as the driving force behind the climate crisis, increasingly extreme weather, and instability across the globe.  In response, The Climate Center CEO … Read more

| Blog Post

Testimony: Accelerating California’s climate goals will save lives and dollars

On March 15, 2023, SB 12 — introduced by Senator Henry Stern and sponsored by The Climate Center — passed out of the California Senate Environmental Quality Committee by a final vote of five to two. The bill would require California to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55 percent below 1990 levels by 2030, accelerating … Read more

| Take Action

Call on the legislature to maintain state funding for equitable building decarbonization

The 2022-23 state budget cycle committed nearly $1 billion to retrofit existing buildings in low-income communities and provide consumer rebates for building upgrades. This program is essential for addressing inequities and disproportionate pollution impacts for lower-income communities and communities of color, all while ensuring robust tenant protection, anti-displacement, and workforce standards. But Governor Newsom is … Read more