Highlights
- The 2021-22 budget included $21.7 billion from various fund sources—the General Fund, bond funds, and special funds—for programs related to climate and clean energy, a net increase of $4.8 billion (22%) compared to 2020-21 expenditures. The biggest package that was funded by the General Fund was the Drought and Water Resilience Package, with a total of more than $4.6 billion package over three years. Most of the funding is targeted toward grants to improve water supply and reliability, drinking water, and flooding ($3.016 billion total), plus funding to tackles issues such as water quality and ecosystem restorations, immediate drought responses and water supply and reliability.
- The Zero-Emission Vehicle (ZEV) package is the next largest, with a total of $3.9 billion over three years. This includes $525 million total ($425 million from the General Fund) for the Clean Vehicle Rebate Project and a substantial increase in funding for ZEV-charging infrastructure ($500 million from the General Fund). Other provisions include clean trucks and buses, rail and transit equipment, electric school buses, and manufacturing grants.
- The budget includes $75 million in funding for the Building Initiative for Low-Emissions Development (BUILD) Program. This will support the construction of all-electric affordable housing projects through grants and technical assistance for developers.72 In addition to supporting, energy efficiency, the project pitches in to support the state’s affordable housing crisis, as well as the 1.3 million low-income households without proper housing access.73
72 “Building Initiative for Low-Emissions Development Program” California Energy Commission
https://www.energy.ca.gov/sites/default/files/2022-03/BUILD_FactSheet_ProgramOverview_ada.pdf
73 “55 of California’s Counties Lacked Enough Affordable Homes Even Before the Pandemic.” California Housing Partnership. June 3, 2020 Available at: https://chpc.net/55-of-californias-counties-lacked-enough-affordable-homes-even-before-the-pandemic/
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Assessing the Impacts of Climate Investments
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