By Miguel Miguel, Chapter Director, Sierra Club California
The 2026 legislative session has come to a close, and with Governor Newsom's final decisions made, we are taking stock of what California accomplished, where progress stalled, and which challenges remain.
Throughout the year, Sierra Club California tracked and advocated on hundreds of bills, working alongside our chapters, volunteers, and coalition partners to advance environmental protections and push back against proposals that threatened California's climate and conservation goals.
There is progress worth recognizing. This year, California signed important legislation expanding access to clean energy, including AB 2313 and SB 222 to accelerate building electrification, SB 868 to expand access to plug-in solar, and AB 2493 to address delays connecting clean energy projects to the electrical grid.
Additional victories included AB 1448, strengthening protections against expanded offshore oil and gas development; AB 40, requiring environmental review for proposed coal facilities; SB 883, improving oversight of dangerous chemical storage facilities; and SB 1268, advancing equitable access to outdoor recreation. New laws also address utility political spending, public participation in regulatory proceedings, and financial assistance for wildfire resilience.
But the session also brought consequential setbacks. Governor Newsom vetoed SB 954, which would have restored environmental review safeguards for certain industrial developments, as well as AB 2218, addressing historical injustices involving Tribal water rights, and SB 1125, creating a statewide water rate assistance program for low-income households. AB 2494, which sought to strengthen biodiversity and climate protections in state demonstration forests, was also vetoed.
Meanwhile, several proposals Sierra Club California opposed became law, including SB 1370, creating broad environmental exemptions for wildfire mitigation projects; SB 811, establishing special permitting provisions for metal shredding facilities; AB 706, supporting forest biomass utilization; and SB 1392, expanding exemptions from vehicle smog checks.
Other outcomes reflected the importance of stopping legislation before it reaches the Governor's desk. Proposals to accelerate oil drilling permits, weaken oil well cleanup accountability, and extend State Water Project water rights in ways that could facilitate the Delta Tunnel failed to advance. At the same time, several bills we supported, including proposals to strengthen community air protections, address climate-related insurance costs, and expand access to environmental review documents, did not make it across the finish line.
So what does this session tell us about California's environmental leadership?
The answer requires looking beyond which bills were signed or vetoed. It means examining the decisions legislators made along the way, the protections they supported or weakened, and the consequences those decisions carry for California's communities and environment.
In the coming weeks, Sierra Club California will release our annual Legislative Scorecard, providing a more comprehensive analysis of key environmental votes taken by members of the State Assembly and Senate.
The Scorecard will examine how legislators voted on consequential legislation affecting climate action, clean energy, water, public health, environmental justice, and California's natural resources. Our goal is to help Californians better understand the legislative decisions shaping our environmental future and provide greater transparency into the actions of their elected representatives.
To our members, volunteers, and partners who helped advance this work throughout the year, thank you. Your calls, testimony, organizing, and continued advocacy remain essential to California's environmental future. The legislative session may be over, but the work of advancing environmental protections and holding our elected leaders accountable continues.
Stay tuned for the release of Sierra Club California's 2026 Legislative Scorecard.