News from All Over

July 10, 2026|

The California legislature is in recess, and Climate Action California volunteers are…not exactly resting! We’re turning to other projects and topics related to our mission, with a special focus on our candidate endorsements  for the November election, now that the primary has winnowed the field, slightly. So this is an overdue—and way overlong—PARTIAL list of our own programs coming up and other initiatives we’re working on. Please skim, then read, and do join some of this work if you can!

Events and actions from Climate Action California and partners

  • Part 2 of CAC’s mid-year legislative training series is coming up next Monday, July 13, at 6 pm Pacific. Sign up and join on Zoom to learn about how our volunteers make a difference, and how you can join us! We’ll review our Policy Teams, our Capitol Team, and our ongoing elections work for a more climate-focused legislature in 2027. Sign up here. We’ll send recordings and slide decks to both parts of the series to everyone who registers.
  • Powering Down Prices: Policy Solutions to Lower California’s Electricity Rates is an important new report from the UC Berkeley Center for Law, Energy, and the Environment (CLEE)—and the topic of a webinar featuring Sen. Josh Becker on Tuesday, July 14 at 1 pm Pacific . Download the report and sign up for the webinar here. CAC energy nerds are convinced that lowering electricity prices, showing everyone that renewable energy is really cheap(!), is the fastest path to decarbonization.
  • Green California’s annual lobby day, when volunteers meet in the Capitol with legislators and staff from around the state, is set for Tuesday, August 11. This is always an interesting and valuable event. Training will be provided that day on the short list of priority bills we’ll be advocating for…and lunch is included. Sign up here by July 31, and be sure to list Climate Action California as your organization/affiliation. If you sign up, please drop me a note so we will know who to look for during the lobby day!
  • This month Climate Action California’s Plastics/Toxics team is all in on Plastic-Free July, a national campaign to get people thinking about the scourge of single-use plastics. Sign up here and take the pledge to spend the rest of the month using less plastic! Could be habit-forming…
  • The California Air Resources Board (CARB) revised the Cap&Invest program (formerly Cap-and-Trade), in a contentious two-day meeting that seemed to leave no one, neither board members nor the dozens of public commenters, happy. Lucky for us, our own Jonathan Cole broke it all down and explained the issue and the results, in an invaluable webinar. If you missed it, we recorded it for you! This is worth following, as both lawsuits and legislative remedies are, controversially, in the works—as the new rules seem certain to reduce the funding counted on by key climate programs.
  • Another issue we’re taking on for November is Proposition 45, an audacious and horrible ballot initiative from the Chamber of Commerce and the investor-owned utilities. This measure will take a lethal bite out of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA)—which while not perfect, has served the people and communities of our state well since the 1970s. For more information, and to take action in opposition to this awful measure, go here.
  • Good news from the court: The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the South Coast Air District’s rule phasing out gas industrial boilers and water heaters.  We’ll continue to advocate with both South Coast and the Bay Area Air District for an as-soon-as-possible switch away from gas appliances, for all of us. Thanks to everyone who has weighed in for cleaner air and reduced emissions, while natural gas interests and the utilities have fought hard to stay on top!

Suing the oil majors for climate harms

  • No Immunity for Big Oil: We’ve been closely following Congressional machinations intended to give the largest oil companies immunity from the dozens of state and municipal lawsuits bearing down on them, intending to hold accountable the unimaginably wealthy entities that have brought us “heat dome summer” and so much more. Our friends at the Center for Climate Integrity have a multi-pronged campaign that should appeal to everyone. Check out the website, and Do Something! There are plenty of ideas, whether you have a lot of time to spend or a little.

Climate risk disclosure requirements

  • The federal Securities and Exchange Commission has proposed rescinding its long-fought-over climate risk disclosure rule—weakened but finally passed during the Biden Administration…and then held up in court for the past two years. The SEC is taking comments on the rescission until August 3, and Green America has an excellent letter individuals can co-sign, asking the agency to keep the rule. For CAC’s many supporters who joined us when we were advocating, successfully, for California’s disclosure laws, SB 253 and SB 261 (2023)—this one’s for you!
  • Speaking of which, the California Air Resources Board is holding a workshop on implementation of our own corporate emissions disclosure requirements, on Tuesday, July 21, 9:30 am – 12:30 pm, all remote. We need to be there to urge them to keep to the legislated timeline and not fold to the oil companies! Sign up here.
  • And finally, the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Association (NOAA) seems to be preparing to severely curtail California’s ability to protect and manage its own coast under the federal Coastal Zone Management Act. This could open up the door to more offshore drilling, among other things. The California Natural Resources Agency has called for everyone to make their voices heard. NOAA will hold one in-person meeting on Aug. 10 in Santa Monica and two virtual meetings on Aug. 11 and 12. Written comments will be accepted through Aug. 22.

Can that be all? Probably not!

With apologies for this grab-bag of semi-random information and possibilities—I have to add, please join us! And if you can’t give time and energy, please support us with a contribution. So much to do, so little time…California’s climate leadership needs all of us pitching in!

My best to everyone,
Janet

Janet Cox, CEO
for Climate Action California

Endnotes:

source: https://www.pexels.com/photo/man-reading-the-newspaper-11416984/
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