Capitol Voice February 2025

By Gabriela Facio

The fight for environmental justice is deeply intertwined with immigrant rights. Immigrant communities are disproportionately affected by the impacts of climate change, and they also form a significant part of the vital workforce of many of the most climate-vulnerable industries in the state, like agriculture. Today, these communities are more vulnerable than ever, and they face heightened threats of deportation and systemic discrimination. As the federal government intensifies its attacks against immigrants, those who care about environmental justice must act to protect these communities. California also has a unique responsibility to uphold its sanctuary commitments to protect these underserved groups, and Sierra Club California will need your help to do so.

The recent wave of deportations under the Trump administration has caused immense suffering in immigrant communities, and undermined crucial environmental work. Many immigrants are key leaders in movements for clean air, safe drinking water, and climate resilience. They are farmworkers exposed to pesticides, warehouse workers suffering from pollution, and activists advocating for public health in historically underserved communities. When these movement leaders are forced to focus on their immediate safety and persecution, movements for environmental justice are understandably de-prioritized. Trump’s federal deportation policies weaken the crucial movements fighting for a more sustainable and just California.

In response, Sierra Club California is joining efforts to back crucial legislation which would support protections for these vulnerable communities. Senate Bill X1-2, introduced by Senator Wiener and Assemblymember Gabriel, would reinforce California’s sanctuary state policies by providing funding to defend immigrants from harmful federal actions. In a letter to lawmakers, Sierra Club California emphasized that protecting immigrant communities is not just a moral imperative but also a necessity for sustaining environmental justice efforts. This support from the state is necessary to ensure that federal actions do not interfere with California’s commitment to environmental justice. Without these protections, the environmental movement risks losing some of its most passionate and dedicated advocates.

The same forces that pollute and exploit vulnerable communities also seek to criminalize and deport those who fight back. The state has a responsibility to stand firm against these injustices. Sierra Club California will continue pushing for critical legislation like Senate Bill X1-2 to safeguard both immigrant rights and the future of the environmental movement in California.

By Layne Fajeau

President Donald Trump has instructed the federal government to exert control over California’s water system. Governor Newsom has done more to ally himself with the new federal administration than fight back. 

In his first week as President, Trump issued two executive orders that topple Californians’ right to manage our own natural resources and sentence the San Francisco Bay-Delta Ecosystem to collapse. With both orders, Trump perpetuates a number of lies, including that the Los Angeles fires were due to “inadequate water supplies” in Southern California and meager water imports from Northern California. This is not true - Los Angeles’s reservoirs were full enough to battle the flames. Gusts as high as 90mph and an urban water system ill-equipped to battle a fire that size were the true culprits of the blaze’s speed and intensity.

Nevertheless, he continues the second Executive Order by making a series of illegal and erroneous demands of the federal government that will interfere with state agencies’ duty to protect California’s water supply and ecosystems. He reinstates a series of outdated Biological Opinions from his first administration that open the doors for unfettered pumping of Bay-Delta flows to the detriment of our beleaguered ecosystems. He eviscerates the Endangered Species Act by illegally employing the “God Squad” provision - mandating that his administration wholly ignore required protections for critically endangered Delta fish species to benefit the big agriculturists that have bought his attention. Potentially most alarming, he instructs the federal government to “take all available measures to ensure that State agencies … do not interfere with the [federal government’s] operation of the project to maximize water delivery to high-need communities.” In doing so, President Trump superimposes his authority over state-level decisions, supplanting science-backed, community-informed decision making with his far-right, oligarchic vision.

Donald Trump is dangerous. His water management ideology could prove deadly for Californians. He misplaces what and who is to blame for the fires, leaving Californians unprepared for future fire seasons. He conditions disaster aid on the state meeting his political demands. He threatens military action against our state’s public servants and water experts. He wastes billions of gallons of water through performative dam releases that farmers depend on in the drier spring and summer months. And he most recently pulled funding for the refuge population of captive Delta smelt meant for reintroduction - intentionally condemning the species to extinction. 

At Sierra Club California, we’re calling on Governor Gavin Newsom and Attorney General Rob Bonta to stand up to these attacks from the Trump Administration. The people of California need to know that our elected officials have our back in the fight for clean, affordable water and safe, healthy ecosystems. Protecting the environment from Trump needs to be one of their top priorities.

Unfortunately thus far, Governor Newsom has fallen into lockstep with the Trump Administration. Whether it be through executive order echoing Trump’s baseless water talking points, eliminating environmental regulations up-and-down the state to divert more water, or meeting with Trump to collaborate on a shared water policy agenda on Wednesday, Newsom has failed to defend his state against Trump’s incursions.

There are still opportunities for Newsom and Attorney General Bonta to stand up to Trump. The Governor should be signing executive orders, organizing legislation, and galvanizing regulators to protect the Delta ecosystem from Trump’s assaults. Attorney General Bonta should be filing lawsuits challenging Trump’s executive orders, regulatory actions, and the validity of his administration’s biological opinions. 

Our ecosystems and communities depend upon their expeditious action. Demand that they defend our state today, here.