More than 40 organizations urge Governor Newsom to pass SB 787 and Support Clean Heat Pump, Battery, and Off-shore Wind Supply Chains in California
Los Angeles, Calif. — Today, Public Citizen joined the United Auto Workers and over 40 organizations urging Governor Newsom to sign SB 787 into law. The California State Assembly on Friday voted in favor of SB 787, which would create an Industrial Policy Council in the California Energy Commission. The council would coordinate agencies and stakeholders to support clean energy supply chains for three key sectors across the state: heat pumps, batteries, and off-shore wind.
“While Trump takes the country back to the time of coal barons, awful labor conditions, and extreme pollution, California—the world’s fourth largest economy—has an opportunity to support creating critical clean technology supply chains in the state,” said David Arkush, director of Public Citizen’s Climate Program. “We urge Governor Newsom to ensure California remains a global leader in clean industry development by signing SB 787 into law.”
“UAW is committed to an equitable vision for decarbonizing California’s economy. Part of that vision is growing good union manufacturing jobs in the industries of the future, while accelerating clean energy deployment and bringing down the price of energy for working class Californians,” said Mike Miller, Director of UAW Region 6, which represents 100,000 members across various industries in California. “With SB 787, we’ve sponsored a bill championed by Senator McNerney that will go a long way towards reaching these critical goals in an affordable manner. We’re proud to be joined by a broad coalition of unions, environmentalists, businesses, community groups, counties, utilities, and other organizations who have linked arms in supporting this common sense measure.”
California has established ambitious goals for building a green economy that accelerates the deployment of affordable clean energy and provides quality jobs. However, the state lacks a comprehensive approach to building the clean energy supply chains and workforce needed to achieve its goals.
SB 787 formalizes partnerships between state agencies, labor, environmental organizations, and clean energy industries to coordinate supply chain development for batteries, including electric vehicle and grid-scale batteries, along with building decarbonization technologies and offshore wind.
Further Reading: Coalition Letter to Governor on SB 787
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