Restoring our Climate Safely and Permanently

Dear Neighbors,

To truly restore our climate, me must return our atmospheric and oceanic concentrations of greenhouse gas emissions to preindustrial levels as swiftly as possible.

California must lead on climate restoration, a critical third pillar of climate action alongside mitigation and adaptation. That is exactly why I am working with stakeholders from environmental justice groups, labor, and industry to craft a plan for California to not only adapt to, but to reverse climate change: SB 1297.

My bill, SB 1297, is a vital opportunity for California to chart a global path forward in climate restoration. SB 1297 calls on the state to develop a strategic plan to advance carbon reduction across all building and construction materials and maximize carbon sequestration. Notably, this would greatly expand the reach of our state’s current embodied carbon reduction goals and include materials such as cement, concrete, aggregate, lumber, cross-laminated timber, steel, and more. 

California uses enough aggregate, concrete, and other building materials that it could store all carbon emissions from major industrial sources in the built environment. Removing carbon from our building and construction materials and using them to sequester carbon can be done safely, permanently, and economically – with an incredibly high impact. Storing carbon in the built environment will enable net-negative emissions to help draw down atmospheric carbon dioxide levels, which provides additional climate benefits above and beyond California’s efforts to rapidly and completely transition to clean energy.

SB 1297 would require stakeholder input and for state agencies to develop plans, accounting frameworks, and otherwise encourage the use of building materials where feasible with low or negative embodied carbon emissions, to help maximize the level of carbon sequestration in the built environment. 

As many of you know, in Santa Clara County, we led the charge to declare a countywide “climate restoration emergency that demands immediate action to halt, reverse, restore and address the consequences and causes of global warming" and on Earth Day’s 50th Anniversary, along with Earth Day Network, and the Foundation for Climate Restoration, I helped to launched a local governments campaign that called on all cities and counties to adopt climate restoration. 

Last year, the state legislature passed SB 596 authored by Senator Josh Becker that established the intent of the Legislature to attain net-zero or net-negative emissions of greenhouse gases from the cement and concrete sector. Accompanying this, I was a principal co-author of SB 582 authored by Senator Henry Stern, the Climate Emergency Mitigation, Safe Restoration, and Just Resilience Act of 2021, that focused on carbon removal leadership, and I authored a suite of bills around greenhouse gas reduction through building energy use.

SB 1297 follows on an announcement at the recent 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, Scotland from the Pacific Coast Collaborative, that partnering jurisdictions – including California – will work to accelerate innovation, investment and market development for low carbon materials. It also comes on the heels of the recent announcement by the Biden Administration regarding new actions to advance the production and use of low carbon building materials made in America and guidance on the responsible deployment of carbon capture, utilization and sequestration to help achieve a carbon neutral economy.

A study by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory found that nearly half of the state’s solar adopters are in the highest quintile of earners, while approximately 4 percent come from the lowest quintile. California must expand solar energy access to our communities that are historically underserved.

My bill, SB 1385, will make solar more accessible for low-income families across the state.

California’s investments in distributed solar have disproportionately subsidized distributed solar for non-residential and general market residential properties. The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) reported that out of the overall $3 billion budget given to the California Solar Initiative Program in 2007, only $218 million (7%) went to low-income housing, whereas $2.79 billion (93%) went to commercial retail and market rate housing. 

It is imperative that we take a more equitable approach to solar energy.

I am proud to be working with the State Association of Electrical Workers on SB 1385 which would create a multi-family housing local solar program that will bring solar and storage systems to multi-unit dwellings in underserved communities, with no cost shift to other ratepayers.

SB 1385 will ensure that low-income customers, who have been disproportionately left out of the state’s solar investments, can access affordable and clean energy.

You may have seen recent news coverage on my bill co-authored by Assemblymember Evan Low to establish mechanisms to deescalate disruptions during public meetings that significantly interrupt public business.

Across California, public officials and attendees continue to deal with disorderly conduct during meetings at such a high magnitude that critical business and the legislative process as a whole has become significantly impaired.

Our bill, SB 1100, would ensure safe, open, and accessible public meetings by creating a process to restore order when disruptions occur that prevent a meeting from continuing in accordance with law. 

The Ralph M. Brown Act was originally enacted in 1953 to govern the conduct of public meetings for local legislative bodies and, as you can imagine, many provisions in the Brown Act remain antiquated. I believe it’s time to modernize the Brown Act to meet the unique needs of our present day. Learn more about SB 1100 through recent media coverage:

The Mercury News: Silicon Valley lawmakers introduce bill to quell disruptions at public meetings

Los Angeles Times: California lawmakers want to crack down on public meeting disruptions

San Jose Spotlight: Silicon Valley lawmakers want to update public meeting law

Schools are, and must continue to serve as, centers of wellness and centers of resilience for our students and families.

Thank you to those of you that joined our recent Town Hall for families on Student Mental Health with the Santa Clara County chapter of NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) in support of safe school and home environments. 

I was able to join a tour of the new Wellness Center at Monroe Middle School in Campbell Union School District and am so pleased that our county was able to take advantage of state funding through the Community Schools Partnership Program and the Mental Health Student Services Act to stand up these centers across Santa Clara County that will focus on improving student mental health.

At this site, I was able to meet one of the School-Linked Services coordinators I envisioned when I spearheaded this program for our entire county. And through youth advisory groups, these middle-schoolers are helping govern their own mental health wellness center!

Read more about my recent visit through this in-depth feature and thank you to Campbell Union School District, Santa Clara County Office of Education, and School-Linked Services for your work in supporting safe and supportive schools.

I have fought hard to ensure adequate funding and augmentation of these programs, including through my role on the state’s Mental Health Services Oversight and Accountability Commission. As you know, I made a request for the augmentation of the Mental Health Student Services Act grant program that was approved with an increase of $205,000,000. This funding will allow for millions of other children and youth to receive mental health and emotional support through the School-Linked Services framework as they return to schools and everyday life.

To this end, I pleased to share that I have introduced SB 1184 to ensure California students get the behavioral support they need through School-Linked Services. After envisioning the School-Linked Services program that is now a success across Santa Clara County schools, I am now bringing this framework statewide to support or students and families and to increase the number of credentialed pupil support services personnel like counselors, social workers, nurses, psychologists etc. at our school sites.

SB 1184 would define in California law a “School-Linked Services” coordinator as those individuals or entities, who serve as licensed educational psychologist, located on a school campus or under contract by a county behavioral health provider, and ensure that these School-Lined Services coordinators can better refer both students and families to mental health treatment and care.

Schools must serve to develop children holistically. SB 1184 will allow for quicker referrals to services so that we can better meet the needs of our students.

For those of you that missed it, check out a recording of our recent informative Student Financial Aid Town Hall at this link. Thank you to experts from the California Student Aid Commission for joining us and providing all the information students need to navigate their financial aid options.

I hope this recording can serve as a resource to for you and your family.

Last year, the State we invested the most ever into California’s higher education system in our state’s history: $47.1 billion. We also made historic investments in student housing: $2 billion

Landmark higher education bills became law that will improve all aspects of college affordability and access.

View the town hall recording at this link.

Check out our SD 15 community bulletin for opportunities to learn, explore, and more!

• Volunteer Opportunity Spotlight: Join me in signing up for an upcoming local volunteer opportunity with Second Harvest Food Bank of Silicon Valley!
   
• Energy Bill Relief: The state’s Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) is providing up to $1,000 for eligible households. Learn more at this link
   
• Sustainable Careers for Veterans: Bloom Energy has teamed up with the United Veterans Council of Santa Clara County to extend full-time employment career opportunities to our deserving veterans in the renewable energy sector in Silicon Valley! This initiative will help ensure veterans have access to green jobs with top employers in emerging and sustainable fields. Interested veterans should visit https://www.bloomenergy.com/careers/ or email community.relations@bloomenergy.com
   
• EmPower Silicon Valley Student Film Competition: Silicon Valley Clean Energy is calling on students to submit their short films around clean energy, with the opportunity to earn up to $20,000 in scholarships. Learn more at this link
   
• SD 15 In the Community: I was recently able to visit students in Campbell Union School District at the Campbell School of Innovation. Thank you to Ms. Read’s 3rd grade class for hosting me!

I recently had the distinct privilege of honoring Mohammad Kohistani, who goes by “Mustafa”, a young man who arrived to the Bay Area as a refugee at only 12 years old from the Kapisa province in Afghanistan.

Mohammad's mother, Freshta Kohistani, was a distinguished and outspoken women's rights and democracy activist in Afghanistan who was assassinated along with his brother on Christmas Eve of 2020. Freshta Kohistani was the recipient of the Secretary of State's International Women of Courage Award from our State Department in 2021. 

Around the world, there are over 33 million children who must flee their homes. I will continue to safeguard the health and well-being of children just like Mustafa and ensure we are passing policies at the state and federal level that are protecting their needs.

Watch the full recording of our Certificate of Commendation ceremony at this link.

View news coverage of this event:

KTVU Fox: Afghan refugee honored after mother, brother assassinated on Christmas Eve

State resources and services available are posted on my new website: sd15.sen.ca.gov. Get connected to some of the most frequently used state resources, including resources for businesses and employers, students, those in need of housing and financial assistance, and more.

As always, please feel free to reach out to me with any questions, comments, or concerns. I can be reached at senator.cortese@sen.ca.gov.

Thank you,

Dave Cortese