Convergence Newsletter September 2022

10/06/2022
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Romero Review

A letter from the leaders of the Romero Institute

"Cooperation is the thorough conviction that nobody can get there unless everybody gets there."

Virginia Burden

Dear friend,

I have wonderful news to share with you — after successfully passing through the California Senate and Assembly with flying colors, Gavin Newsom signed our bill, SB 1230, into law on the 19th of September. Together, we did it!

We now need to begin developing the second bill to be introduced into the California Legislature in February of 2023. I hope you will decide to contribute much needed funds to help us launch the work on our next historic bill aimed at making it possible for all Californians to participate in the Green Economy.

To briefly summarize, our first bill will touch the lives of millions of Californians over the coming years by streamlining the state's popular clean car incentive programs, the Clean Vehicle Rebate Program, the Clean Vehicle Assistance Program, and the Clean Cars for All Program, behind one application, making it much easier for everyone to get free money for a clean car. It will also speed up the process of getting money in your pocket by pre-screening applicants so they don't have to wait weeks or months for a rebate. Additionally, it directs various departments and agencies to work together to better serve low-income and disadvantaged families.

All together, this means saving families money on fueling and maintaining their cars, and making the air we all breathe cleaner and safer. And because emissions from passenger cars are the single biggest contributor to the state's carbon footprint, this bill is strategic climate action! Making clean cars more affordable and accessible to every household will speed up California's transition to a zero-carbon future, and provide a roadmap for the rest of the country.

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Senate Bill 1230 came into being earlier this year in partnership with the Dolores Huerta Foundation and Central Coast Senator Monique Limón, after they were inspired by our Electrify California policy proposal. Our own Benjamin Eichert and Dr. Jon Conway created what would become SB 1230, and it was embraced by the powerful Senate Climate Working Group, by labor, leading environmental groups, and environmental justice organizations….leading to an exhilarating victory!

Putting more clean cars on the road isn't going to solve the climate crisis on its own, but it is a crucial move on the chessboard. Other pivotal steps to a sustainable society include revitalizing and expanding public transportation, ensuring reliable electric vehicle chargers are widely available, developing ethical sources of critical minerals like lithium for batteries, closing the loop on how we deal with waste to turn it back into resources, and getting fossil fuels out of our homes and businesses.

With your continued friendship and support, the Romero Institute, our Let’s Green California team, and all of our wonderful partners and allies, will keep working to make these dreams of a better future a reality! We can get California close to carbon free by 2030 if we work hard and smart, and link arms and stay unified.

We must begin to develop the second bill today. Please dig deep and make a generous contribution to fund the next big step forward in the Golden State. With your help, our researchers will be in high gear tomorrow, figuring out how to successfully place electric chargers throughout the low and moderate income communities. The money to implement a plan will come from the Build Back Better federal bill, but it is complicated, and there is NO PLAN as of now.

We know how to proceed to develop a legislative plan with Dolores Huerta and our legislative allies, but we urgently need resources to hit the ground running. Your support is critical now.

Walk in faith, keep breathing, and know that there is a way through the challenges of 2022.

Once again, thank you from all of us for helping to create a positive future!

My heart is yours,

Sara Nelson

Executive Director

P.S. If you are interested in learning more about the other steps necessary to make a planet and human-friendly California, I invite you to explore the readings included in this month’s issue of Convergence. We are on this journey together!

Romero Report

Current events, new perspectives on history, and more

In this episode of the Romero Report, Romero President Daniel Sheehan discusses some of the other important bills that were passed in California this year to demonstrate the scale of action that is being taken here. He also shares some of the recent accomplishments of the Romero team.

Romero Reads

Highlighting important writings from around the world

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For this month’s reading, I wanted to share this relatively brief but informative summary of the United Farmworker Movement and its leaders Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta - the same Dolores Huerta who helped us pass SB 1230 at the age of 92! Understanding this important chapter in history brings a greater appreciation for the intergenerational struggle for justice, and the impact small, dedicated groups of people can have on the world. I hope learning about these extraordinary activists can inspire you to carry on their spirit in your everyday life. Onward!

--S.N.

Project Updates

The news from the front

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The Let’s Green CA! team has been busy keeping up with the whirlwind end to this year’s legislative session, as well as preparing for the upcoming November elections. Be sure to follow LGCA on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook to get updates and news about California climate action!

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It's time to get out the Native Vote in 2022! Through our innovative Oceti Vote Fest on Oct. 22-23 in Rapid City, SD and live streaming online, we're getting tribal nations together and to the polls. It's an exciting, first-of-its kind event of 3-on-3 basketball, music festival, hand games competition, and singing contest, co-produced by the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and the Lakota People’s Law Project. Other partners are Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, Lower Brule Sioux Tribe, and Thunder Valley CDC. We hope you’ll join us! You can also take action by sending a letter calling to protect voting rights for Native Americans and other People of Color, just in time for the November election.

Additional Resources

Interesting and noteworthy finds

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If you are curious about what holistic plans for building a better California actually look like, dig into the Romero Institute’s two policy proposals: our California Green New Deal Framework and Electrify California Plan. The first document lays out one approach to transitioning the entire state to a circular economy rooted in equity and sustainability, and the latter focuses more tightly on two of our biggest sources of emissions, transportation and buildings. Throughout both is woven our commitment to creating systemic solutions to injustice, and on elevating those who have been most marginalized and oppressed.

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For more on the other important bills that were passed in California this year, CalMatters has you covered. From oil well setbacks to protecting transgender youth to new ways of building affordable housing, the Golden State Legislature is back in action after two years of COVID chaos and this article breaks down some of the most impactful laws that were (and weren’t) passed this session.

Thanks for reading! Join us again next month, and please follow us on social channels @RomeroInstitute for up-to-date coverage of our justice work.

- Sara Nelson, Danny Sheehan, and the rest of the Convergence team

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