The 7th Annual Green California Summit was held on January 9, 2012 in Sacramento. More information on that event to come.
On December 6th, 2010, CLCV Education Fund and its partners hosted the 6th Annual Green California Summit & Reception in Sacramento. The caliber of presenters, the quality of conversations, and the largest attendance numbers on record made this year’s event the most successful of its kind to date.
More than 240 colleagues representing dozens of environmental, environmental justice, labor, clean energy business, public health, economic and social justice groups gathered at the Sacramento Convention Center to hear from elected officials, pollsters and other environmental experts.
View more photos of the event.
Two important themes emerged during the day:
Excitement about the results of the recent election and the opportunities they present — environmental champions swept the top of the ticket races, and voters soundly rejected a ballot proposition to kill California’s landmark climate and clean energy law (thanks to a powerfully diverse coalition that included a majority of organizations at the Summit).
Concern about California and the nation — continued economic woes, the passage of Prop 26, and the staggering state budget deficit weigh on the community’s ability to advance a strong environmental agenda that helps the state maintain its global leadership in transitioning to a clean green energy economy.
Speakers included a “who’s who” of environmental leaders including Lieutenant Governor-elect Gavin Newsom, State Senator Alex Padilla, Assemblymember Nancy Skinner, President of the League of Conservation Voters Gene Karpinski, E2 co-founder Bob Epstein, No on Prop 23 co-chair Tom Steyer and Silicon Valley Leadership Group CEO Carl Guardino.
They were joined by Pete Price from the office of Assembly Speaker John Pérez, Chair of the California Energy Commission Karen Douglas, Cesar Diaz of the State Building and Construction Trades Council, Sierra Club California’s Bill Magavern, Martha Guzman-Aceves from the California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation, Ann Notthoff from NRDC, and Dan Jacobson from Environment California, among others.
Panelist Ian Kim from the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights took a literal victory lap in honor of the coalition that crushed Prop 23 and shared data that showed “if not for people of color, we would not be celebrating the fact that California is the firewall against the conservative national tide” in the recent election.
Together, we strategized in breakout sessions about the community’s priorities for 2011 and celebrated both new alliances and a renewed sense of optimism about the challenges we face in the coming year and beyond. Breakout sessions covered a range of issues such as renewable energy and infill development, transportation policy, environmental and labor alliances, how to cope with Proposition 26 and the next steps in advancing environmental advocacy in 2011.
Emphasized were the seriousness of the budget challenge and the need for environmental and public health advocates to reach beyond their comfort zones — selecting bill authors beyond the “usual suspects,” developing creative alliances to move strong environmental policies forward, and finding creative solutions to overcome barriers that could impede California’s speedy transition to a robust green economy.
“The rest of the nation and world is watching California. It’s an audacious challenge: how we can we get California’s fiscal house in order while transitioning to a clean energy economy? If we get it right we’ll have shown it’s possible, and others will follow. If we get it wrong, some of the air will be let out of the balloon, and that’s not something I want to risk.”
–Senator Alex Padilla
December 6, 2010
The Summit also sparked conversations about how the Green California network will collaborate effectively in the year ahead, and helped advocates reconnect and reignite their enthusiasm for tackling the challenges in what promises to be a challenging — yet potentially enormously rewarding – year for environmental advocates statewide.
