Gov. Jerry Brown and the Legislature have made clear their commitment to combating global climate change. But in his inaugural address earlier this year, the governor wisely observed that “how we achieve these goals and at what pace will take great thought and imagination mixed with pragmatic caution. It will require enormous innovation, research and investment. And we will need active collaboration at every stage with our scientists, engineers, entrepreneurs, businesses and officials at all levels.”
We applaud the governor’s approach, and emphatically urge lawmakers to avoid setting climate change goals and costs that fall disproportionately on the backs of the poor, working middle-class and communities of color.
California leads the world in innovation while leading the nation in poverty. According to the Census Bureau, California’s poverty rate, the nation highest, averaged 23.4 percent from 2011-13. Especially troubling are poverty levels among California’s communities of color. According to economist Joel Kotkin, the poverty rate for Latinos is 33.7 percent and for African Americans 30 percent.
Employment is key to remedying this issue. Goods movement, energy, manufacturing and construction provide good-paying blue-collar jobs, and collectively employed 20.5 percent of Californians in 2014, according to the California Employment Development Department. However, because of their emissions, these industries are also among those most affected by climate policies. Losing them and the jobs they create would simply add to the challenges already facing too many Californians.
