Climate & Air Quality

Last week, State Senator Scott Wiener introduced SB-127, the Complete Streets for All Bill.

With the end of the 2017-2018 legislative session, it’s an opportune moment to review the fortunes of some of the bills we have supported this year.

In November, voters will consider Proposition 6, which would roll back the additional transportation funding approved by SB 1, the transportation and gas tax law. Millions of dollars of transportation funding and important investments in active transportation and Safe Routes to School—including a significant expansion of the state’s Active Transportation Program—would be rolled back. The Safe Routes Partnership has taken a position against Proposition 6 and urge a no vote.

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) will be convening a September board meeting to discuss Assembly Bill 617, the Community Air Protection Program. AB 617 will mandate new community-driven action strategies to reduce air pollution and improve public health for communities who experience disproportionate burden of poor air quality.

This week, leaders from around the world are gathering in San Francisco for the Global Climate Action Summit. As a counterpoint, It Takes Roots is organizing a series of events throughout the week to call attention to the impact of climate change on low-income communities of color and calling for climate solutions that support environmental justice.

SB 1 funded a variety of new programs, and the California Transportation Commission (CTC) is having workshops to get input on the guidelines for two of these programs: