The top 10 environmental victories for 2014, and 10 challenges for the New Year

From groundbreaking commitments to solving global warming to passing a first-in-the-nation ban on single-use plastic bags, it’s clear that 2014 was a great year for protecting our environment. Thanks to the leadership of environmental champions and the activism of millions of Californians, our air is cleaner, our water is safer, and more of our power than ever before comes from solar and other renewable sources. As we celebrate our victories, let’s resolve to continue moving environmental progress forward in 2015 and defend the gains we’ve made. Here are the top 10 environmental victories for 2014 and 10 challenges for the New Year.

From groundbreaking commitments to solving global warming to passing a first-in-the-nation ban on single-use plastic bags, it’s clear that 2014 was a great year for protecting our environment. Thanks to the leadership of environmental champions and the activism of millions of Californians, our air is cleaner, our water is safer, and more of our power than ever before comes from solar and other renewable sources. As we celebrate our victories, let’s resolve to continue moving environmental progress forward in 2015 and defend the gains we’ve made. Here are the top 10 environmental victories for 2014 and 10 challenges for the New Year.

President’s Clean Power Plan moves global warming solutions forward. In 2014, President Obama took two historic steps forward to fight global warming. First, the president proposed the first-ever limits on global warming pollution from existing power plants in the United States. The Clean Power Plan will cut global warming pollution from U.S. power plants by 30 percent by the end of the next decade. Second, President Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping announced an historic agreement to cut greenhouse gas pollution in both nations. With the White House working to move these initiatives over the finish line, 2015 promises to be a watershed year for environmental protection. As Californians, we can be proud that our leadership, from our landmark Renewable Portfolio Standard for clean power to our first-in-the-nation Global Warming Solutions Act (AB 32), created the momentum for these historic steps forward.

Challenge for 2015:

  • Keep Congress from rolling back the Environmental Protection Agency’s legal authority to fight global warming.
  • Secure an international agreement on global warming at the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris.
  • Continue progress at the state and local level.

California finally bans plastic bags. California became the first state to ban single-use plastic bags on September 30, when Governor Brown officially signed SB 270. The bill, championed by Senators Padilla, De León, and Lara, will begin to take effect this July. In the meantime, nearly 140 cities and counties, representing more than 1 in 3 Californians, are moving ahead to enforce plastic bag bans of their own. Single-use plastic bags are one of the most common garbage items removed from California beaches and a major threat to ocean wildlife, like the leatherback sea turtle that mistake them for food.

Challenge for 2015:

  • Out of state plastic bag companies are throwing millions of dollars into a referendum to stall or repeal this law. Californian voters need to stand strong and reject these attacks.
  • Local governments need to move ahead with new plastic bag bans of their own.

San Benito and Mendocino Counties (and New York) lead the way against fracking. Hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking” is a method of drilling that pumps water and toxic chemicals underground at high pressure to fracture shale formation and release oil and gas. Fracking uses millions of gallons of water we can’t spare, risks contaminating groundwater, and keeps California addicted to fossil fuels at the exact moment we need to transition to clean energy in order to solve global warming. This fall, voters in San Benito and Mendocino Counties approved bans on this dirty, dangerous drilling. What’s more, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo banned fracking statewide just before the Holidays. With momentum building each day, will 2015 be the year that Governor Brown follows through as a climate leader and bans fracking statewide?

Challenge for 2015:

  • Stop fracking in the rest of California. Governor Brown can be a leader here, consistent with his work and achievements solving other aspects of global warming.

California Charges Ahead with clean cars. Cars, buses, and trucks are the single largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in California. Converting the state’s transportation sector to zero emission vehicles is critical to meeting California’s greenhouse gas and air quality goals. This year, Governor Brown signed SB 1275 (De León), which creates the Charge Ahead California Initiative to speed California’s transition to clean vehicles and put 1 million electric vehicles on California’s roads by 2023. SB 1275 extends and improves California’s successful Clean Vehicle Rebate Project, which provides rebates for zero-emission vehicle purchases and establishes new programs to provide access to clean transportation in disadvantaged communities. Brown also signed SB 1204 (Lara), creating a program to fund zero and near zero emission truck, bus and off-road vehicle and equipment technologies projects.

Challenge for 2015:

  • California and our legislative leaders have made a groundbreaking commitment to bring one million clean cars, trucks, and busses to our roads. Now, we need to hit our goal!
  • One of the best ways to ensure success is to help low income communities take full advantage of the Charge Ahead rebates and other transportation programs.

California (still) leads the nation in solar power. More and more Americans are going solar, meeting more of our energy needs in a way that’s clean, local, and independent. California continues to lead the way, with nearly 55,000 Californians working full-time to bring more solar power to the state. California hosts four of America’s top 10 solar cities: Los Angeles (1st), San Diego (2nd), San Jose (4th), and San Francisco (9th). Also in 2014, Governor Brown signed AB 2188 (Muratsuchi), which brings together the best practices from solar permitting procedures to create a streamlined permitting process for small residential solar systems. Thanks to these improvements and our momentum as a green leader, 2015 promises to be an even brighter year for solar power.

Challenge for 2015:

  • Maintain the amazing growth in the solar market that we’ve seen for the past 10 years.
  • Congress should pass a production tax credit for the solar industry.
  • California elected officials should continue leveling the playing field for solar, and especially rooftop solar, as it competes with oil, natural gas, and utility-scale projects.

Two New national monuments protect the best of California. In 2014, President Obama used his authority under the Antiquities Act to create two new protected areas for California. In October, the president visited Los Angeles to proclaim the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument. These mountains protect over 70 percent of Los Angeles’ remaining open space, providing invaluable opportunities for outdoor recreation. California condors, bald eagles, bighorn sheep, and other wildlife make their homes in this newly-protected landscape. In March, President Obama expanded the California Coastal National Monument to include the Stornetta Public Lands. Stornetta, a picturesque coastal bluff outside Point Arena, captures the rugged natural beauty of California’s North Coast. Stornetta is also noteworthy as the first on-land addition to the Coastal Monument, which already protects the islets, reefs, and rock outcroppings along California’s 1,100 mile coastline.

Challenge for 2015:

  • Secure the strongest possible protections for more beautiful places. This means everything from expanding Yosemite National Park and protecting Berryessa-Snow Mountain to creating more urban parks for all Californian’s to enjoy.
  • Stop the destruction of our wild places.
  • Ensure that all our parks and special places are well funded in state and federal budgets.

World’s largest marine sanctuary protects iconic ocean wildlife. In 2014, President Obama expanded the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument to create the largest marine reserve on Earth. The new protected area will conserve 490,000 square miles of ocean, keeping one of the most pristine tropical seas in the world safe from overfishing, pollution, drilling, and mining. It protects many iconic Pacific Ocean animals that enrich all our lives on the West Coast, including many species that visit California. Five endangered species of whale shelter and feed in these waters: blue, sei, sperm, humpback, and North Pacific right whales. Deep sea coral reefs, millions of seabirds, and five species of sea turtle will also benefit.

Challenge for 2015:

  • Enforce the expanded monument and ensure that illegal fishing and extraction are kept out of the protected area.
  • Continue protecting the ocean closer to home, including investments in our National Marine Sanctuaries and California’s Marine Protected Area network.

Boxer, Pelosi stop last-minute attacks on clean water. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has proposed a rule to close loopholes that leave two thirds of California’s streams without protection of the federal Clean Water Act. Nationwide, these loopholes leave 20 million acres of wetlands vulnerable to pollution and development. Over 800,000 Americans and hundreds of businesses have joined environmental groups in supporting EPA’s move. But as Congress debated the must-pass budget this December, polluters and their allies pushed to add riders stripping EPA’s authority to close the loopholes. Senator Boxer and Leader Pelosi were key in blocking this last-minute attack on our water.

Challenge for 2015:

  • Environmental champions in the House and Senate need to continue defending clean water against polluter-led attacks.
  • The Environmental Protection Agency should to stand strong, finalize its Clean Water Rule, and close these loopholes once and for all.

New groundwater rules protect California’s water supply. Until 2014, California was the only Western state that did not manage its groundwater. Yet nearly 75 percent of the state relies on groundwater for some portion of its water needs. This fall, Governor Brown signed a package of bills to create local and regional groundwater sustainability agencies, protect the most threatened basins from overdraft, and establish reporting and monitoring regimens for groundwater consumption. The three bills are SB 1168 (Pavley), SB 1319 (Pavley), and AB 1739 (Dickinson).

Challenge for 2015:

  • Ensure that California’s budget and the federal budget both provide the funding we need to protect clean water for all Californians.

New labeling law protects consumers from toxic flame retardants in furniture. This fall, Governor Brown signed legislation ensuring that consumers have the right to know when their furniture has been treated with toxic flame retardant chemicals. Senate Bill 1019 (Leno) requires manufacturers to make this disclosure on the product label for upholstered furniture sold in California. Flame retardants persist in the environment, concentrate over time, are toxic, and have been linked to lower IQs in children, reduced fertility, and increased cancer risks. In a fire, these chemicals can result in more toxic smoke. Firefighters are exposed to flame retardants and their byproducts, which can penetrate protective gear and likely contribute to higher rates of cancer, heart disease, and lung disease among firefighters.

Challenge for 2015:

  • Ultimately, we need a major reform of our toxics laws. California is the best place to start.
  • We need to adopt a real “Green Chemistry” program that phases out and reduces toxic chemicals at the source.

Authors

Dan Jacobson

Senior Advisor, Environment California

Dan provides campaign strategy and policy guidance for Environment California's program and organizational plans. Prior to his current role, he worked as the state director of Environment California and the organizing director of Florida PIRG, among other roles. The Center for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Technologies (CEERT) named Dan a Clean Power Champion in 2019, and Capitol Weekly named him one of the “Top 100 Lobbyists” in California in 2008. Dan's areas of expertise include renewable energy, electric vehicles and ocean pollution, and he has successfully advocated for the passage of dozens of bills into law, including measures to ban toxic chemicals, bring 1 million solar roofs to California, and ban single-use plastic grocery bags. He ran the campaign for SB 100, California’s law setting a goal of 100 percent clean energy by 2045.