By Megan Nguyen, Coalition Communications Coordinator
Happy New Year!
My favorite thing about starting a new year is enjoying a period of rest with my loved ones and emerging with refreshed energy and optimism. I’m feeling rested, recharged, and ready to hit the ground running in 2022!
Over the last year, our coalition has been hard at work. We formed a new steering committee, set focused priorities and strategies, took action in San Francisco, San Diego, and Sacramento, and launched a new website!
Our New Year’s resolution for 2022 and beyond is to Radically Reimagine a better California. We are redefining what is possible for our communities and demanding a better future that centers the needs of neighborhoods, workers, and families on the frontlines of the climate crisis.
We believe that no matter who you are or where you come from, we all deserve dignified work, healthy homes and resilient communities where we can all thrive.
This year, our coalition set goals that are transformative, progressive, and ambitious and identified 5 key priorities. These priorities were selected by a new steering committee composed of 19 organizations that centers leadership from frontline community and labor organizations.
Our 2022 Priorities include:
Despite the ongoing pandemic and disparate public health and economic impacts, California is expecting a $31 billion budget surplus. It is imperative that the state use this money to invest in communities and workers most impacted by COVID-19, structural racism, and the worsening climate crisis.
Our coalition will work together to identify and advocate for transformative investments that redistribute money to families in crisis, and lay the groundwork for a transition to clean energy and a just economy.
Justice40 is a federal commitment to ensure that new investments are rooted in justice and benefit our most disadvantaged and vulnerable communities. California has an opportunity to be a leader by committing to Justice40 at the state level. Our coalition will fight for the state’s climate and infrastructure funds to create good union jobs, invest in real climate solutions, and go to the communities that need it most.
As the fossil fuel industry contracts, we need to take care of workers who will lose their jobs and communities who may suffer from cutbacks in critical social services when local taxes from the fossil fuel industry decreases. An equitable transition to a clean energy economy must include support for displaced workers and impacted communities.
The coalition is committed to using this year to develop transformative policy campaigns that present a vision for a Green New Deal in California. This is a long haul process that requires deep collaboration with organizational partners, intensive research, and meaningful community engagement. Ultimately, this will result in GND policies that will form the basis for future organizing, storytelling, and legislative advocacy.
This $600 million program was created through the 2021 budget as a fund dedicated to promoting a sustainable and equitable recovery from the economic distress of COVID-19. CERF has funding available for regional planning and implementation projects.
The California Green New Deal Coalition will advocate for strong program guidelines that ensure community- and worker-led solutions, organize and coordinate regional planning tables, and build capacity for communities to apply for and receive implementation grants.
This vision will require radical structural changes, people power, and time beyond just one year. While this may be a daunting task, we remain firm in our belief that the future of our communities and planet depends on rapidly transitioning to a clean energy economy with justice at its core. We are committed to leading with a bold vision, now and for the long haul.
We’re ready to get to work.
The California Green New Deal Coalition is composed of 60 organizations and growing! We welcome new members. If you’d like to join our coalition and agree to our community agreements and core values, you can read them and sign up here.
Follow our journey and keep up to date with the latest news by signing up for our mailing list here.
Let’s win a Green New Deal in California together!
In solidarity,
Megan
