Californians will have a chance this November to vote for a historic $10 billion climate resilience bond. This bond measure, titled Proposition 4, would ensure funding for a wide variety of environmental programs, including $25 million for protecting Coyote Valley. The purpose of the bond is to provide a reliable source of funding to help the state deal with climate change. This is especially important given the recent steep cuts to climate funding in the state budget.

Funding Would Benefit Open Space, Wildlife, Farmland, and Much More

In addition to the $25 million dedicated to ecological restoration and protection of open space in Coyote Valley, Proposition 4, the “Safe Drinking Water, Wildfire Prevention, Drought Preparedness, and Clean Air Bond Act of 2024,” would provide funding for climate resilience solutions ranging from biodiversity protection to forest health to wetland restoration. Here are some examples:

• Permanently protecting open space from development through land acquisition. Open space serves as a carbon sink, helping to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
• Coastal and Bay wetland restoration and nature-based protection against sea level rise.
• Planting more trees in urban areas to help cool our cities.
• Safe drinking water for Indigenous communities, which is more important than ever in the face of climate-induced drought.
• Protecting wildlife linkages and creating new wildlife crossings over dangerous highways. This will ensure that animals are able to migrate to find mates or move to new habitats as the climate changes.
• Prevention and treatment of groundwater contamination.
• Forest restoration and wildfire resilience, including tribal cultural burning.
• Regenerative farming practices that restore soil fertility and sequester carbon, thus reducing greenhouse gases.
• Protecting monarch butterflies and other native pollinators.
• Protections and benefits for farmworkers, to help protect the workers and our local food supply.
• Creating urban green space in parks-poor communities, which reduces neighborhood temperatures.
• Restoring fish habitat and protecting rivers and streams.
• Access to healthy food, urban farming, and farmers’ markets.
• Restoration of marine ecosystems such as kelp forests.

Climate Resilience Funding Is Urgently Needed

California is in desperate need of funding for these and other climate resilience programs. This year, billions of dollars intended for these programs were cut from the state budget to close the budget deficit. We need a reliable source of funding for climate resilience that won’t be subject to budget decisions by state officials.

Now is the time to invest in climate solutions. The longer we wait to take action, the more expensive it will become to address these needs.