Advocating for Climate and Ocean Justice in California
Editor’s note: The following perspective piece by Tomas Valadez, Azul’s California Policy Associate, reflects on the 2023 legislative session in California. Valadez is responsible for representing Azul before legislative decision makers in order to amplify Azul’s mission, particularly in California. Prior to joining Azul, he worked in the office of U.S. Senator Alex Padilla. Learn more about Tomas here.
The small California farming town where I am from is located at the base of the Southern Sierra Nevada mountains in the San Joaquin Valley. Besides its scenic backdrop and proximity to the Sequoia National Forest, Porterville is known for its lack of available groundwater for drinking, its terrible air quality for which the American Lung Association gave it an “F” in its annual State of the Air Report, and other unfortunate consequences of a human-induced climate crisis.
Growing up in this majority Latino community, I experienced marginalization on a daily basis and deeply desire representation for my community to bring relief and reprieve for my neighbors.
During the extreme drought of 2015, many residents of the East Side of Porterville, including my family, experienced wells that dried up. No water to drink, to cook with or to flush our toilets. Our human right to water was gone. The response by our local, state and federal government was slow and not entirely effective. Still, my family was lucky to have generous neighbors that helped us in a time of need as they connected us to their water supply, but other families were not so lucky. Many residents fled their homes as a result of their dry wells and the State’s painstakingly slow response.
It was during that time that my passion for advocacy and civic engagement grew. I did not know what my future held at the time, but I knew that I wanted to advocate for Latino families much like my own that felt as though they had no voice on the very issues that were affecting us.
I consider myself to be very fortunate to be a part of Azul, working specifically with Latinos to protect our future, and more specifically the ocean and coasts. This year has been one of learning and new experiences for me as I have grown in my leadership on behalf of Azul and our work in Sacramento this 2023 legislative session.
The California State Legislature concluded the session in September with 3,028 bills introduced. Of those, there were many of great importance to Azul and the environmental justice communities we work alongside – communities like mine.
California 30×30
Azul advocated in support of the State of California’s goal of 30×30 – to conserve 30 percent of the state’s land and coastal waters by 2030 with environmental justice values and to advance the global goal to protect at least 30 percent of lands and waters by the same year, among its legislative priorities, along with the reduction of single use plastics and safeguarding the health of communities in proximity to oil and gas infrastructure.
Amid a number of climate bills, Governor Newsom signed SB337 into law on October 7, 2023. Introduced by California State Senator Dave Min, with California Assembly Member Ash Kalra as its principal coauthor along with Senator Henry Stern, this action made the Governor’s October 2020 Executive Order N-82-20 a California law that future administrations can continue to implement. This is especially important as the 30×30 conservation goal’s deadline extends beyond the Governor’s January 2027 term end.
Azul has advocated for 30×30 since the ambitious conservation initiative’s beginning – in fact, Azul was one of the original sponsors of Assemblymember Ash Kalra’s Assembly Bill 3030 (AB3030) during the 2019-2020 legislative session. Kalra’s bill aimed to make it the goal of the state to protect at least 30 percent of California’s land areas and waters and to help advance the protection of 30 percent of our nation’s ocean by 2030, while addressing the racial and economic inequities in these spaces by improving equitable outdoor access to nature among marginalized communities. The Azul-sponsored bill has been credited with setting the foundation for the U.S. Federal Executive Order by President Biden in 2021, advancing environmental justice values.
Plastic Pollution Bills
There were a number of California bills this legislative session that focused on plastic pollution reduction, but only a few bills made it through the legislature. Senator Bill Dodd’s SB353, and Senator Monique Limón’s SB728 were some of the plastic pollution bills that Azul was supportive of this session. All of these bills have different solution focuses with regards to plastic, while they all share the common goal to reduce plastic pollution in the state.
• SB353 by Senator Dodd will add containers of 100 percent fruit juice and vegetable juice to the state’s bottle recycling law, putting another 200 million containers per year into the recycling stream.
• SB728 by Senator Monique Limón will transition the state away from the use of plastic gift cards to more environmentally-sustainable gift card options beginning January 2027.
Some of the bills this session that focused on supporting historically excluded communities included Assemblymember Isaac Bryan’s AB421 and Assemblymember Wendy Carrillo’s AB1167 as a means to protect our communities and environment.
• AB421 by Assemblymember Bryan will change the referendum process, a process in which ballot measures are used to ask voters to overturn laws passed by the Legislature. For far too long special interests have long manipulated the referendum process here in the state and AB421 will finally put an end to that, changing the referendum process will allow for more transparency in the process and ensure it is more equitable.
• AB1167 by Assemblymember Carrillo will require proof of full bonding or other financial assurance before oil wells can be sold to new operators. This bill will ensure that no California well can be sold until and unless the buyer—large or small, financially stable or not—ensures that cleanup costs are covered. Presently, California is not collecting enough bond funding to cover the actual cost of sealing abandoned wells – which comes with safety and health risks, in addition to financial implications – so there is a real need to ensure that companies are held accountable in order to protect our communities and environment.
In reflection, the 2023 legislative session made great progress in the advancement of the state’s 30×30 initiative, reducing plastic pollution, and supporting environmental justice. Even with these advancements, there is still a lot of work to be done. Azul is poised to head into the 2024 legislative session with the ocean justice leadership and expertise we are known for, as well as the passion for our gente-powered movement. We look forward to continuing in our work to advance environmental justice and equity in the state of California, across the nation and at the international level.
For me, this year has been one of connecting back to my own experiences in Porterville, listening to others and the plights they face, while learning and navigating new experiences to advocate as I grow in my leadership on behalf of Azul in California’s legislative matters.