On August 22nd, the Climate Justice Working Group, with support from Greenlining Institute and Resources Legacy Fund, released a set of guiding principles and recommendations for advancing equitable climate change adaptation in California. The Working Group also released the results of a poll from EMC Research regarding perceptions of climate change among California voters of color.

To accompany the release, Greenlining Institute published a blog post on the issue of Climate Justice. In addition, KQED’s California Report interviewed Working Group co-chair Veronica Garibay of Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability. CJWG member Anya Lawler is discussing the guiding principles and recommendations and poll results today before the Joint Legislative Committee on Climate Change Policies.

Assembly Bill 398, the cap-and-trade extension recently signed by Gov. Brown, designates “climate adaptation and resiliency” as a priority for expenditure of cap-and-trade revenue. An Assembly Budget Subcommittee hearing today, Aug. 23, and a Senate Budget Subcommittee hearing tomorrow, Aug. 24, start the process of determining how cap-and-trade funds will be spent in light of AB 398. The Working Group recommends that California should identify and invest at least $1 billion by 2020 and $10 billion by 2025 to advance climate resilience for its most vulnerable communities.

 
Climate Justice Working Group members include:
  •         Amee Raval, Asian Pacific Environmental Network
  •         Sarah de Guia, California Pan-Ethnic Health Network
  •         Caroline Farrell, Center on Race, Poverty and the Environment
  •         Lucas Zucker, Central Coast Alliance for a Sustainable Economy
  •         Janaki Jagannath, Community Alliance for Agroecology
  •         Ernesto Arevalo, Communities for a Better Environment
  •         Alvaro Sanchez and Sona Mohnot, Greenlining Institute
  •         Eleanor Torres, Incredible Edible Community Garden
  •         Veronica Garibay, Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability
  •         Martha Arguello, Physicians for Social Responsibility, Los Angeles
  •         Chione Flegal and Erika Rincon Whitcomb, PolicyLink
  •         Ari Neumann, Rural Community Assistance Corporation
  •         Gloria Walton, Strategic Concepts in Organizing and Policy Education (SCOPE)
  •         Anya Lawler, Western Center on Law & Poverty
Email Sona Mohnot (sonam at greenlining dot org) if you’d like to be put in touch with any of the Working Group members, or if you have any questions about this project.