Cap & trade reauthorization should prioritize climate safe infrastructure

OPINION – California has long been a leader in green policy, safeguarding against the impacts of climate change, while making significant strides in green infrastructure and jobs. As a result, our state has been making steady and meaningful improvements to reduce air pollution and harmful emissions while fostering jobs and improving our quality of life.

As state lawmakers begin discussing a reauthorization of the state’s landmark Cap & Trade program, a new coalition of labor, business, local government and transportation leaders is pushing to ensure climate-safe infrastructure is given top priority.

The Climate Safe Infrastructure Coalition is urging lawmakers to prioritize proven investments in physical and natural infrastructure that will effectively reduce greenhouse gas emissions, enhance our safety and resilience to the impacts of climate change, while supporting good-paying middle-class jobs.

For example, the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund has supported more than 1,200 transit agency projects, adding or expanding transit services statewide — reducing emissions equivalent to removing millions of cars from the road. We cannot afford to halt funding for transit at such a critical time.

Reauthorizing the Cap & Trade program is also critical to accelerating the production of affordable housing and helping local governments meet the state’s housing goals. Investments from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund have resulted in over 1,200 new projects boosting affordable housing and building more climate-resilient communities statewide.

Jobs, mobility, housing, and infrastructure are essential components of sustainable cities and counties, and are a necessity for the future of our state. We must also continue to invest in wildfire prevention, High Speed Rail, and hardening infrastructure to deal with extreme weather and rising sea levels.

With the Cap & Trade program set to expire in 2030, the Climate Safe Infrastructure Coalition is urging legislators to invest in the following priorities:

State and Regional Clean Transit Infrastructure

• Continuous allocation of funding to build and maintain a statewide integrated rail and transit network.

• Continuous allocation of funding to local and regional transit agencies to stabilize and grow transit and rail service statewide, including capital expansions, ZEV transition, and operations and maintenance.

Clean Local Transportation Infrastructure

• Annual funding for local governments to safely implement green transportation infrastructure, including electric and hydrogen vehicle infrastructure, active transportation infrastructure and local government clean fleet compliance.

State Wildfire Resilience Infrastructure

• Significant allocation of funding to high wildfire risk counties to fund firefighting capital infrastructure and public safety initiatives.

• Statewide wildfire fuel mitigation projects, including landscape-scale reforestation, fuels reduction, pest management, prescribed fire, and forest biomass utilization.
• Wood Products and Bioenergy grants and workforce development, including using GGRF funds to cover above-market cost of producing bioenergy.

• Public safety emergency water supply infrastructure.

Local Land Use Infrastructure to Support High Density and Infill Development

• Continuous allocation to local, rural and regional governments to support projects consistent with a sustainable communities’ strategy, including infrastructure around Transit Oriented Development, converting underutilized urban office and commercial properties into housing, and continued funding for state and regional affordable housing and transformative climate communities efforts.

Climate Adaptation for Sea Level Rise Infrastructure

• Continuous allocation for projects related to climate adaptation, including levee improvements and flood prevention, replacing or fortifying transportation infrastructure like roads and airports threatened by sea level rise, and municipal waste and recycling infrastructure.

Importantly, we also believe any reauthorization should avoid adding new fees or taxes that will ultimately be passed along to California families already struggling with the high cost of living.

Climate change and extreme weather are here already. We need an improved Cap-and-Trade program that prioritizes effectiveness and accountability while preserving affordability for Californians.

Our state is dependent on all of us joining forces around common principles– to ensure our infrastructure can withstand the lasting impacts of climate change. We must continue moving forward, building together toward a better, greener future.

Carolyn Coleman is the Executive Director and CEO of the League of California Cities.
Michael Pimentel is the Executive Director of the California Transit Association.
Michael Quigley is the Executive Director of the California Alliance for Jobs.