Dana Guzman is a resident of Casas de la Viña, a 56-unit affordable apartment rental community that serves low-income families and farmworkers. The mother of two boys, Dana moved to Casas de la Viña when she needed to find a new home. Self-Help Enterprises was able to install solar photovoltaic (PV) systems and make energy efficiency improvements at Casas de la Viña with Cap-and-Trade dollars.
After facing increasingly unaffordable energy bills year-after-year, Milton, a Sacramento County resident, learned about the State’s low-income solar program offered through the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD). He became interested in the program and was one of many residents that benefited from this assistance
Marie Deer, an Oakland resident, went from not having a car to acquiring a pre-owned 2015 Honda Insight, a hybrid vehicle that she was able to afford through a financing assistance program available to low income Bay Area residents who live in disadvantaged communities most impacted by air pollution.
Supported by nearly $2.6 million from California Climate Investments, the California Environmental Protection Agency is working with University of California researchers to carry out two studies that will help California reach its goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2045. In particular, these studies will examine ways to reduce emissions from the transportation sector, the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in California. The studies will also quantify air pollution and economic impacts for multiple greenhouse gas emissions reduction scenarios.
With delivery of 10 new Lion Electric all‑electric school buses in December 2020, Twin Rivers Unified School District’s (TRUSD) fleet of 40 zero‑emission buses represents the largest deployment of zero‑emission school buses in North America. Several California Climate Investments programs, including Community Air Protection Incentives, played a crucial role in reaching this major milestone.
San Ysidro is a predominantly low-income, 93% Latino community, situated along the US-Mexico border, across from the Mexican city of Tijuana. Sources of air pollution include vehicle exhaust from traffic waiting to cross the San Ysidro Port of Entry, the largest land-border crossing in the Western Hemisphere, as well as air pollution from Mexico.
Launched in January 2019, the South Central Los Angeles Project to Understand the Sources and Health Impacts of Local Air Pollution (SCLA‑PUSH) aims to help South Central LA organizations and community residents better understand the state of air quality and health in their community and engage in air monitoring and data analysis to advance community‑driven solutions in air quality policy. The project was awarded $300,000 by the AB 617 Community Air Grant Program and is led by Physicians for Social Responsibility–Los Angeles (PSR‑LA).
Dennis DaSilva is a second-generation California dairy farmer whose parents began the family’s first dairy farm in 1983 with 150 cows. The $375,000 grant has allowed Mr. DaSilva to replace an existing solid separation system with a new, more efficient manure separator and concrete pad. Separated manure is dried and composted on the concrete pad and is then used for bedding and fertilizer for forage crops.
In June 2020, artists, their families, and low‑income earners in Santa Ana began moving into new affordable homes funded in part by a $12 million award from California Climate Investments through the Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities program. In partnership with the Southern California Association of Governments, the Santa Ana Arts Collective development promotes sustainability and health through active transportation safety activities, supported by over .5 miles of bicycle facility improvements and 36 improved pedestrian crossings. The project also features a gallery space for resident and community artists, and Meta Housing is partnering with Western Community Housing to deliver on‑site adult education services.
As early as this summer, Sierra Village will offer 44 affordable homes with easy access to bike lanes and sidewalks in the rural community of Dinuba. This apartment rental community will not only bring an affordable housing option to hardworking low-income families, but it will also feature a vanpool program and other transportation improvements, solar and water conservation features — all of which are designed to reduce GHG emissions.
