Collaboration is the Key to the Climate Crisis

We are 4 months away from the end of a strenuous year for environmentalists across the nation. For years, we have worked in collaboration with legislators on the very real crisis of global climate change. It was this change that saw positive changes that protected our communities from the real threats like reduced air quality, increased heat, and a laundry list of examples that still grows to this day. This effort brought forth leaders from local grassroots organizers to the political decision makers focused on improving not just the climate but securing a future for California we are all proud of. Together I still believe that we are united in this effort, but this year has shown a schism between the very leaders that have brought collective wins in benefit of all our communities.

2025 has been earmarked by policies that have transferred control of local environmental issues into the hands of select state legislators. There is always a need to progress our infrastructure, social advancement, and much more. However, doing this in a manner that takes out collaboration creates a process in which local leadership is circumvented despite their more narrowed and focused understanding of the needs of their constituents. To solve our climate crisis it cannot be all state control and all local leads, but rather requires a holistic policy platform that addresses the systemic barriers. Local leaders must inform the state support they require to establish a baseline we all can work from equitably. As for our state leaders, they must understand that the broad brush of uniform state policy can erase the nuance that makes up our communities. 

A healthier climate cannot be negotiated in back rooms or rushed through without public trust. Real collaboration is not a box to check at the end of a bill cycle but needs to be the beginning of responsible lawmaking. That means inviting community organizations, tribal governments, workers, and local officials into the design phase rather than ask for responses. It means preserving strong environmental review and public access to records so residents can see, question, and shape the decisions that will affect their air, water, energy bills, and rents. Of course the work is hard, and it means aligning our seriousness about measurement and course correction.

Financial donations cannot continue to decide whether emissions are falling, asthma visits are dropping, or who deserves to face the burden of the urban heat. When local innovation proves there is a way to do this work, then our state must help scale it. Doing so will assure California can continue to collaborate effectively with the creativity of its cities, counties, and tribes. Let us not fall victim to the regime we see in the federal government. We have four months where we must reset the tone, reaffirm our shared goals, and demonstrate to the nation that we can in fact capitalize on statewide ambition and local wisdom. If we do, California will not simply defend its legacy of environmental leadership and renew it for a future we can all recognize as our own.

Sincerely,

Miguel Miguel
Director