Today California inaugurates a new governor who will face a series of environmental challenges during his term in office. Governor Newsom's tenure will likely include steadily worsening wildfire seasons, the threat of long-term drought, and the ongoing need to reduce California's greenhouse gas emissions, primarily from the transportation and housing sectors. 

Before the November election, CLEE teamed with Resources Legacy Fund to prepar e  three sets of actions California's next governor could take immediately to address these looming crises. The recommendations are based on convenings that CLEE and RLF held with expert stakeholders, co-moderated by CLEE and Sacramento mayor Darrell Steinberg. Among the detailed actions the panels identified:

• Convene a Governor's Water Coordinating Council to guide cross-agency actions on water supply and quality, including dedicating a volume of water to the environment to be managed for ecosystem recovery and developing a major new financing package to address near- and long-term needs.  
   
• Support legislation for statewide "up-zoning" of small-scale commercial zones in transit or infill areas to mixed-use zones, to promote increased density and use of public transit as a means to increase housing supply and decrease greenhouse gas emissions.
   
• Appoint a leader in the Governor's Office with a singular wildfire focus, including a mandate to develop and implement state incentives for local governments to limit new development in high-risk areas and to treat a set amount of wildland acres per year to reduce catastrophic wildfire risks.

The recommendations offer a roadmap of near-term efforts Governor Newsom can undertake immediately to realize long-term environmental benefits for all Californians while improving the state's ability to mitigate crises. 

Access the recommendations here or contact Ethan Elkind or Ted Lamm for more information.