Prop 70’s resounding defeat signals need for bolder climate leadership

Maricela Morales | Guest columnist

We now know the next governor will be either Gavin Newsom or John Cox.

Newsom has promised to be a voice for environmental justice and to protect climate funds that are dedicated to communities of color and low-income Californians. We know Cox is the oil industry’s favorite, but how real is Newsom’s commitment?

Newsom’s absence from our coalition’s gubernatorial debate on environmental justice in Los Angeles earlier this year gave us reason for concern as to whether he will show up and stand up for issues that impact communities of color. Our families need to know: Will our next governor truly follow the lead of our environmental justice champions, or will it mean more of the same deceptive deals with Big Oil, as was the case with Prop 70?

Low-income residents and communities of color across California are not only on the frontlines of climate change — they’re also at the forefront when it comes to sustainable solutions. But despite our progress in transitioning toward clean energy, powerful Sacramento lobbyists want to keep Californians hooked on fossil fuels rather than enabling community-led solutions like accessible and affordable transportation options. Prop 70, which voters soundly just defeated this month, illustrates this ongoing threat.

If passed, Prop 70 would have senselessly tied up proceeds from California's climate program in endless political gridlock by subjecting it to a two-thirds vote starting in 2024. The very same Big Oil companies that pollute our communities also pushed Prop 70 because they knew imposing a supermajority vote would mean a chance to steer these funds away from some of the programs our communities depend on and toward their own priorities.

In Ventura County, for example, funds have backed direct bus service from Oxnard to Camarillo, affordable housing, plug-in cars and zero-emission transit, solar panels, tree planting, and other investments that boost air quality for everyone.

Investments from our state’s climate program have benefited working families across the state — so far, more than 50 percent of the just under $1 billion spent has benefited disadvantaged communities. These funds have made a difference for service industry workers like Dayane Zuniga, who previously had to commute three hours each way just to get to work. She would board a bus in Oxnard, transferring to two other buses before arriving at her job in Camarillo almost three hours later.

When grassroots leaders from the Central Coast Alliance United for a Sustainable Economy (CAUSE) met with local officials and testified at public hearings, the Ventura County Transportation Commission said they lacked the funds to create a direct bus line between the two neighboring cities.

Two years later, they found the money: through proceeds from the state’s climate investments program. Due to advocacy by environmental justice activists, a significant share of this funding is allocated each year to help clean the air and create good local green jobs in the most polluted neighborhoods in the state, including much of Oxnard. With these funds, the county launched a direct bus line between Oxnard and Camarillo. Now, both communities enjoy the benefits of less traffic and cleaner air.

Thanks to the leadership of communities of color fighting to defeat Prop 70, this toxic measure is behind us, but the threat remains. For generations, Ventura County’s electricity has come from fossil fuel power plants that have been concentrated in Oxnard. Industrial pollution in Oxnard contributes to families suffering from some of California’s highest asthma rates.

This also means that when faced with a catastrophe like the Thomas Fire, when the fragile transmission lines stretching from Oxnard go down, power goes out throughout our entire region. These real impacts of climate change in our most vulnerable neighborhoods illustrate that while environmental injustice hurts low-income people most intensely, it ultimately harms everyone in our community.

By leading the defeat of Prop 70, working-class communities of color like Oxnard showed California’s next governor must prioritize the state’s most polluted neighborhoods when crafting climate change and clean air policies.

The message we sent to the next governor with this vote is that real climate leadership means implementing bold, homegrown solutions that directly benefit communities on the frontlines of climate change.

Prop 70’s demise also reveals the next governor should not make deals like this with the oil industry again, jeopardizing critical funding that benefits low-income communities. We need real climate leadership, not more of the same.

Maricela Morales is the Executive Director at the Central Coast Alliance United for a Sustainable Economy (CAUSE), and the Central Coast Alternate Representative at the California Coastal Commission.