By Rachel Becker, Cal Matters

Highlights:

California Governor Gavin Newsom announced the Climate Catalyst Loan Fund in his state budget proposal.

• The fund would offer low-interest loans to climate-related projects that would otherwise struggle to attract loans, but policy analyst Brian Weatherford believes that the administration may not be able to determine the best projects to fund
• If a project is too risky and fails to repay their loans, then the Fund could be drained
• The budget proposes to grow the Climate Catalyst Loan Fund to $1 billion over four years
• Other climate-based initiatives from Newsom’s office, such as a climate bond and funding or climate adaptation research, have also been criticized by analysts over lack of guidance on how to spend these funds

The Climate Center has recommendations for how to fund climate action for speed and scale in our Rapid Decarbonizaton Campaign. 

Read More: https://calmatters.org/environment/2020/02/legislative-analysts-criticize-california-budget-billion-dollar-climate-catalyst-loan-fund/

Nina Turner

Energy Programs and Communications Coordinator

Janina is a graduate of the Energy Management and Design program at Sonoma State University with experience in non-profits that specialize in sustainability and volunteerism.

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