[Source: CalMatters] Saying Californians disagree about the state’s approach to climate change might be a bit of an understatement.
Today, for example, California’s air regulators are set to hold the first of two hearings on a controversial, far-reaching proposal that would ban the sale of new gas-powered big rigs and other trucks in the state by 2040 and require trucking companies to convert their existing fleets to zero-emissions vehicles.
The trucking industry opposes the proposed regulations, which it says are “not realistic” and are “pushing for too much, too fast,” as Chris Shimoda, senior vice president of government affairs for the California Trucking Industry, put it in a Wednesday CalMatters commentary.
On the other hand, environmental justice advocates are set today to hold a “rally to fight diesel death” outside the California Environmental Protection Agency to urge air regulators to go both faster and further. Their demands: a goal of 100% electric car sales by 2036 and accelerated pollution cuts from certain big rigs.
The divide over California climate policy was also highlighted in a poll released late Wednesday night by the Public Policy Institute of California, which found that Proposition 30 — a November ballot measure to hike taxes on the state’s wealthiest residents to fund electric vehicle programs and wildfire prevention efforts — is underwater with likely voters, with 52% opposed, 41% in favor and 7% undecided. (The margin of error on the sample of 1,111 likely voters is plus or minus 5.1 percentage points.)
- Prop. 30 has been steadily falling in voters’ esteem: 55% of likely voters said they supported it and 40% said they opposed it in a September PPIC survey. But after Gov. Gavin Newsom started airing ads broadcasting his opposition to the measure — putting him at odds with the California Democratic Party and aligning him with the state GOP — a poll released in early October from UC Berkeley’s Institute of Governmental Studies found that just 49% of voters supported it and 39% were opposed.
- Rusty Hicks, chairperson of the California Democratic Party, said in a statement: “The fight against climate change is absolutely worthy of a dedicated funding stream to make the investments needed to save the planet, and that’s why the California Democratic Party strongly supports Prop. 30.”
Exactly how much money would Prop. 30 raise every year, and where exactly would those dollars go? How many Californians would pay higher taxes? Who is funding the campaigns for and against the measure, and how much have they raised? And how much money are the state and federal governments already spending on electric vehicles and wildfire prevention?
- CalMatters’ Ben Christopher, Julie Cart, Nadia Lopez and Jeremia Kimelman answer all of those questions and more in a comprehensive explainer breaking down the 15 key numbers you need to know to understand Prop. 30 and help you decide how to vote.
Source: CalMatters
October 27, 2022
