SB 1221 is an equitable climate solution, the status quo is not

OPINION – Californians continue to experience record-breaking heat waves with temperatures well over 100 degrees in many parts of the state. But depending on who you are and where you live, the experience is dramatically different.

While some families cranked up their air conditioning, people who don’t have or simply can’t afford it reached for ice packs and cold showers to cool down. For the over 180,000 Californians without a home, a respite from the heat meant searching for a park with shade, a local library with air conditioning, or a local cooling center. The California Environmental Protection Agency reports that over the past 15 years, heat waves have caused more deaths in the state than all other natural disasters combined.

As temperatures continue to rise in California, we must advance real climate solutions that protect against extreme heat and help keep families in their homes. The Neighborhood Decarbonization Act (SB 1221, Min) is an opportunity to do just that. The bill provides affordable access to life-saving cooling without raising the rent. It allows pilot projects to upgrade entire neighborhoods to run on clean electricity at no cost to residents, prioritizing low-income and historically disadvantaged communities. The projects will install life-saving technologies such as heat pumps, which can cool rooms more effectively than traditional A/C units while using less energy and emitting less pollution.

The Neighborhood Decarbonization Act will also save households money by ending our reliance on expensive gas pipelines that contribute to climate emissions and poor air quality with zero emissions alternatives. Replacing gas pipelines can cost more than $3 million per mile, and this expense is passed on to our utility bills. A recent analysis found that investing in clean energy infrastructure rather than replacing aging gas pipelines could save California gas utility customers $20 billion by 2045. A stable and affordable energy bill is crucial for any climate solution, especially for those on fixed incomes.

The bill could also create a just transition for fossil-fuel workers by giving preference to high-road employers and including skilled and trained workforce provisions.

Here in the Bay Area, we have outstanding examples of clean energy projects that are implemented thoughtfully, with consideration for the well-being, dignity, and contributions of all residents, particularly those historically underserved. A project at St. Mary’s Gardens, an affordable housing community for senior citizens in Oakland, California, installed solar panels, energy efficiency measures, and heat pumps, resulting in a 51% reduction in energy consumption and a $35 monthly bill savings. In San Francisco’s Mission District, where many residents live below the poverty line, a community partnership between PODER and Emerald Cities is advancing electric retrofit projects to reduce pollution, create climate-resilient and healthy housing, and provide a model for electrifying homes while protecting tenants from high costs and displacement.

The Neighborhood Decarbonization Act can serve as a model for equitably transitioning entire neighborhoods to clean energy.  It complements the Equitable Building Decarbonization program to provide heat pumps and other life-saving technologies to communities that need them the most. Families who cannot afford to install a heat pump will otherwise bear the cost of maintaining our aging and expensive gas infrastructure. Broadly, these programs are essential if the state is to meet its goal of installing 6 million heat pumps by 2030.

By passing SB 1221, the California Legislature will foreground its most vulnerable communities in the fight against climate change and the housing crisis. The Neighborhood Decarbonization Act is crucial in ensuring that Californians, regardless of income, can protect themselves from the dangers of extreme heat and live safely and comfortably in their homes.

Elle C. Chen (they/them) is the Legislative Director of the Asian Pacific Environmental Network (APEN)