Project: Cap and Trade Revenues under AB 32 and SB 535
PRESS ADVISORY
For Immediate Release: October 6, 2015
Contacts: Sydney Fang – Asian Pacific Environmental Network (APEN) 510.703.1311 (cell), Conrad Contreras – The Greenlining Institute, 831.776.6029, Isabel Alegría – Public Advocates, 510. 541.5428 (cell), Fabiola Lao – Coalition for Clean Air, 213.453.4122 (cell)
Over the last year, nearly $300 million dollars in proceeds generated under California’s carbon reduction law were directed to disadvantaged communities across the state as a result of SB 535 (de León, 2012), one of CA’s landmark climate change bills. Under SB 535, at least 25% of the program’s proceeds (known as CA Climate Investments) are earmarked for diverse projects to benefit these communities such as access to electric vehicles and cleaner freight, rooftop solar systems, affordable housing developments near transit, and urban forestry. Ten percent more must be used within disadvantaged communities. This year, as these revenues increase, some $550 million are expected to be directed to disadvantaged communities.
How are these investments already benefitting low-income communities and what could they mean for the state’s future? These are just a few of the questions some 100 community advocates, activists and researchers from around the state will tackle during a 1-day convening on October 7th in Los Angeles.
Who: Coalition for Clean Air, Asian Pacific Environmental Network, the Greenlining Institute and Public Advocates- planning organizations will host the convening. These are advocacy and community organizations who lead the advocacy and implementation of climate investments to California’s most vulnerable communities as part of the SB 535 Coalition. Community leaders will also come from Los Angeles, the San Joaquin Valley, the Inland Empire and Northern California.
What: “Leading with Equity: Evaluating and Advancing California’s Climate Investments”– a statewide convening of advocates and activists involved in the implementation of CA’s landmark climate change laws, AB 32 and SB 535.
When: Wednesday, October 7, 2015 – 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 pm (Press is invited to morning & lunch sessions)
Where: Japanese American Cultural & Community Center – 244 South San Pedro St. (between 2nd and 3rd streets), Los Angeles 90012
The convening keynote speaker will be Dr. Manuel Pastor, nationally recognized expert and scholar at USC who researches and writes about the economic, environmental and social conditions of low-income urban communities in the U.S. Dr. Pastor’s most recent book, Just Growth: Inclusion and Prosperity in America’s Metropolitan Regions, co-authored with Chris Benner (Routledge 2012), argues that growth and equity can and should be linked, offering a new path for the U.S. economy.
###
