As I step into my new role leading The Climate Center, I’ve been thinking about how different the conversation is today from when I began my career in climate. I remember when some of the policies we now take for granted felt like enormous uphill battles. And yet, we put them in place.
In 2006, California passed the Global Warming Solutions Act, a first-of-its-kind, landmark law requiring the state to reduce emissions by 2020. A few years later, we launched the state’s signature climate program, Cap and Trade (now known as Cap and Invest). And in 2018, California passed SB 100, setting a goal of 100 percent clean electricity by 2045. None of these victories seemed inevitable when we were fighting for them. They happened because our movement kept organizing, building coalitions, educating decision-makers, and pushing forward — sometimes for years.
This year, The Climate Center is proud to celebrate our 25th anniversary. Together with our partners, we’ve helped build the Grid for the Future, expand clean local power, advance nature-based climate solutions, hold polluters accountable, and much more. We’ve turned bold and ambitious ideas into action and proven that change is possible when California leads on climate.
As we enter into our next 25 years, that history gives me hope.
Today, we face real obstacles to climate progress. The climate crisis is more urgent than ever, and science tells us that we cannot afford to slow down. But opponents of climate progress are banking on us to throw our hands up in despair. I won’t do that.
I’m incredibly proud to lead The Climate Center as we look ahead to our next 25 years. I’ve seen firsthand the strides we’ve taken in California, and I’m determined to build on our successes. My team attended Climate Week NYC last week to gather innovative climate solutions and strategies to bring back to our home state. We’re ready to hit the ground running at the start of the next legislative session, and I look forward to working in partnership with you to grow our movement even stronger.
And as for progress, we have BIG news. Three of the four bills in the Common Sense Clean and Affordable Energy Package were signed by Governor Newsom yesterday, including The Climate Center’s co-sponsored bill, the Clean Local Power Act! Thank you to everyone in The Climate Center community who took action to make clean, affordable energy a reality. We’ll be hosting a webinar to dissect why these bills and more in California did (and didn’t) become law. Join us on October 21 to discuss the good, the bad, and the future of California climate policy.
This blog first appeared in The Climate Center’s bi-weekly newsletter. To keep up with the latest climate news and ways to take action for a climate-safe future, subscribe today!
