CONTACT: Erika Guzman Cornejo, 310-755-1615, erika@envirovoters.org
SACRAMENTO, CA — Today, California Environmental Voters (EnviroVoters) released the following statement on Senator Scott Wiener’s (D- San Francisco) introduction of Senate Bill 253, the Climate Corporate Data Accountability Act. The bill is part of Senators Wiener, Gonzalez, and Stern’s Climate Accountability Package, a suite of bills that will set a new standard on corporate climate accountability for the entire nation.
SB 253 would be the first law in the country to require U.S.-based companies — those doing business in California and generating over $1 billion in gross annual revenue — to disclose all of their greenhouse gas emissions and set science-based targets to reduce those emissions. SB 253 is co-sponsored by Ceres, the Greenlining Institute, Carbon Accountable, Sunrise Bay Area, and the California Environmental Voters.
Last year this bill was introduced as SB 260 and came one vote shy of passing the Assembly floor despite corporate polluters’ massive efforts to defeat it. This legislation will improve transparency, standardize disclosures, and raise the bar on corporate action to address the climate crisis, while significantly reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the near- and long-term. SB 253 is critical to California’s national leadership in the fight against climate change.
Statement from Mary Creasman, CEO, California Environmental Voters:
“If we are truly committed to leading on climate action, California needs to use our global market power as the 4th largest economy in the world to catalyze corporate leadership and responsibility on the climate crisis. That’s why EnviroVoters is proud to sponsor SB 253.
Corporations have an outsized impact on the climate and there is a critical information gap because of the lack of mandatory reporting requirements for the largest carbon polluters. With one hundred energy corporations responsible for 71 percent of global industrial carbon emissions, no serious conversation about climate action can leave out corporations’ responsibility to be part of the solution.
We are grateful for Senators Weiner, Gonzalez, and Stern’s leadership in the fight to push this climate package across the finish line. This decade is our last chance to prevent irreversible catastrophe and ensure a safe and healthy future for all Californians.”
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ABOUT CALIFORNIA ENVIRONMENTAL VOTERS
California Environmental Voters (formerly the California League of Conservation Voters) believes the climate crisis is here and this moment requires transformative change. California has the policy solutions to stop climate change but lacks the political will to do it at the rate and scale that’s necessary. EnviroVoters exists to build the political power to solve the climate crisis, advance justice, and create a roadmap for global action. We organize voters, elect and train candidates, and hold lawmakers accountable for bold policy change. We won’t stop until we have resilient, healthy, thriving communities, and a democracy and economy that is just and sustainable for all. Join us at www.envirovoters.org and on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. See more press releases.
