SIERRA CLUB CALIFORNIA’S
PRIORITY ISSUES FOR 2010

1. Fighting Global Warming, Generating Clean Energy and Stimulating Green Jobs

Sierra Club California is working with the Legislature, Governor and Air Resources Board to speed our state’s transition to a green economy that sustains both jobs and our atmosphere, by.

• Raising the Renewables Portfolio Standard to 33% or higher by 2020, with policy reforms to improve implementation.
• Requiring motor vehicle manufacturers to innovate with new technologies that reduce their emissions of air pollution and greenhouse gases.
• Requiring major polluters to pay for their greenhouse gas emissions, with revenues used to benefit clean energy, public transit, preparedness, green jobs and low-income consumers.

2. Safeguarding Our Water Supply

California’s current water policies are failing to provide our people, our economy, and our environment with adequate supplies of clean, affordable water.

Sierra Club California is seeking to:

• Promote statewide water conservation and efficiency, including enacting into law requirements for water sub-metering.
• Educate our members, the media and general public about our opposition to the $11.1 billion water bond on the November 2010 ballot.
• Build best management practices for urban water agencies.
  

3. Protecting Californians from Toxic Threats

Bipartisan 2008 legislation gives the Department of Toxic Substances Control the authority to ensure that consumer products sold in California are safe for our families and our environment.

We are building on that breakthrough by working with DTSC to put its new regulatory framework in place. We are also implementing requirements for manufacturers of household hazardous wastes – like mercury-containing thermostats – to provide consumers with free and convenient recycling options.

4.   Preserving Our Natural Heritage and Assuring Habitat Resiliency

We support a ballot measure to provide a sustainable source of funding for our state’s parks, which have been starved for resources.

And we are advocating in the Legislature to ensure that California’s beautiful coast, ocean, forests and deserts are protected, and that our diverse (but diminishing) species and habitats are safeguarded from such disparate threats as off-shore oil drilling, clearcutting, poorly planned development and global warming.

For information on 2009 and 2008 legislation, click here.