Executive summary

Environmental injustice within the Bay Area, California, is an issue that encompasses a variety of complex issues that, in return, worsen the living conditions of communities who are less prepared to fight the climate crisis. Under California state law, Environmental Justice refers to the “fair treatment of people of all races, cultures, and incomes with respect to the development, adoption, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies.” Working towards achieving full environmental justice within the Bay Area is no easy feat, but with a series of well thought-of and well-implemented policies, California can significantly improve the state of environmental injustice within the Bay Area. 

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In particular, this Policy Brief will examine the impact of how climate change is altering the San Francisco Bay Delta Watershed, which is growing significant environmental, and economic challenges relating to: increasing water demand, loss of habitat, water pollution, and in addition, population growth. These impacts will only worsen over time as the climate emergency continues to increase in intensity, which is why it is crucial that we protect communities that are most at-risk through environmental policy aimed at bringing justice. 

‍Overview

A. Pointed Summary

• Under California Law, environmental justice refers to the fair treatment of people of all races, cultures, and incomes. 
•  The Bay Area faces extensive threat as the climate emergency continues to alter the San Francisco Bay Delta Watershed within a variety of factors
• The altercation of the San Francisco Bay Delta Watershed will disproportionately impact marginalized, and low-income communities
• Thorough, and well-developed environmental policy focusing on protecting communities who are the most at-risk at feeling the impacts of climate change within the Bay Area is crucial to align with California’s definition of climate justice

Relevance

Climate justice is deeply woven into the climate crisis, accounting for the social, environmental, and racial issues that are caused as a result of intense alterations to the surrounding environment. By implementing climate justice policies, the state of California will single-handedly recognize the disproportionate climate impacts on most at-risk communities. This relevance assessment will look at the importance of implementing climate justice policy in the Bay Area, current ongoing environmental injustices, and possible complications in the future. 

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Historically, the San Francisco Bay Area has displayed policy and land use decisions made by politicians that have not only been irresponsible but consequently negatively impacted communities around them, causing adverse health outcomes in their respective citizens, such as increased asthma cases, heart disease, and diagnoses of other chronic illnesses. This improper land use, paired with decades of systemic racism and lack of climate action, has led climate injustice to take form in the Bay Area, as communities of color are facing disproportionate effects of the industrial and toxic waste pollution located in their communities, paired with worse air quality and improper waste disposal systems. This current trend of underserved communities being historically located at points where heavy pollution is emitted will ultimately be addressed by implementing climate justice policies within the San Francisco Bay Area. As of 2024, California continues to have ambitious climate goals set in place, with a climate commitment that will cut air pollution by 71%, slash greenhouse gas emissions by 85% by 2045, create 4 million new jobs, and save California residents $200 billion in health costs due to pollution. This climate commitment will also aim to protect communities from harmful oil drilling. Thus, by addressing environmental injustice in the San Francisco Bay Area, the state of California will be able to further align with its personal climate commitments and reach full sustainability. Specifically, such environmental justice policies will target injustices such as extensive pollution from local refineries, poor city planning, and infrastructure repair to be climate resilient for future intensified natural catastrophes. In return, by addressing such injustices, California residents who live in underserved communities will witness an increase in the quality of life through access to clean air, water, and sustainable cities with climate-resilient infrastructure. Such climate justice can benefit communities not just environmentally but also economically, by producing new green jobs and helping stop rising costs of insurance and good prices.  Socially, climate justice policy is capable of unifying communities by improving the safety of towns and cities, providing more space for events, programs, and schools to flourish, and creating a thriving, diverse, and educated community that is prepared and ready to tackle the climate emergency actively. 

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It is clear that the climate catastrophe continues to worsen over time as anthropogenic pollution sources are not effectively controlled. As global warming continues, so does the frequent number of climate disasters, worsening air quality, disease migration, and worsening access to clean water and fresh produce. Thus, it is important to consider underserved and low-income communities, who have been the first to feel these impacts and implement climate justice legislation to address such inequality, which takes a strong presence in the San Francisco Bay Area. 

Current Stances

California is known as a climate leader, with environmental policies to kick statewide emissions dating back to 2000. The majority of the California population recognizes that the climate emergency is a major threat that will impact its communities in the near future. The Public Policy Institute of California conducted a Statewide Survey in 2019, which found that 80% of adults viewed global warming as a very serious issue, 56% as somewhat serious, and 24% as a threat to the state’s future economy and quality of life. This baseline level of recognition of the climate catastrophe is a beneficial factor when planning the implementation and creation of policies aimed at eliminating climate injustice within California. As a progressive state, it has been seen that California has supported and passed a multitude of first-of-its-kind policies that support environmental justice. In 2023, the California Environmental Protection Agency launched the Environmental Justice Actions Grants Program, which helps eligible nonprofit (501(c)(3) community organizations and federally recognized Tribal governments to address environmental justice issues in areas that disproportionately feel the impacts of global warming. In particular, Berkeley Law recognizes a variety of California’s Climate Policy efforts by listing a variety of existing initiatives to improve the conditions of disadvantaged communities during the climate emergency, such as Senate Bill 535 and Assembly Bill 1550, which requires the state to direct at least 25% of cap-and-trade revenues towards locations where communities are facing disproportionate impacts as a result of global warming. Honing in on specifically the Bay Area, the environmental department of San Francisco developed an Environmental Justice Program aiming at eliminating health disparities, improving air quality, improving energy infrastructure, and awarding more than $12 million in grant funds to promote a safer, and more sustainable Bay Area.

In addition towards strong policy implementation and political support, California is a leader in community organizations that are working towards achieving sustainability while advocating for underserved communities. A variety of alliances, organizations, community coalitions, and student groups have been formed in order to advocate for environmental justice within California. This can be seen with CEJA’s (California Environmental Justice Alliance) new Two-Year Strategic Plan which focuses on community-led alliances that advocate for policy solutions towards environmental justice, and Communities for a Better Environment, where they gather climate advocates who help advance California legislation. Most recently, they assisted in the overturning of Senate Bill 1137, which would create 3,200 ft setbacks between sensitive community receptors and oil drilling sites. Generally, California and its residents prioritize climate action and advocacy, making it an incredibly progressive state that is used as a model for implementing effective climate policy. It is important to point out the widespread concern and recognition of the climate catastrophe, which is important for producing successful climate policy that is implemented with urgent action. 

Tried Policy 

This section will deal with analyzing past climate  initiatives that were aimed to eliminate the presence of climate injustice in either the United States or the state of California with a summary of each policy and key takeaways regarding potential improvements for future policy suggestions. Specifically, we will review both the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) 2022, as well as California’s Senate Bill 1383 titled Short-Lived Climate Pollutants (SLCP) 2016 for both weaknesses, and strengths. 

The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, signed by President Joe Biden, provides key objectives with some aimed at fighting the climate crisis, varying from lowering energy costs, reducing carbon emissions by approximately 40% by 2030, to ACA health care premiums for Americans, and enforcing big corporation and the ultra-wealthy to pay their fair share. Within the Inflation Reduction Act, plans to implement climate policy in order to achieve sustainability exist within the GREEN Act. Specifically, the Inflation Reduction Act grants $3 billion to empower disadvantaged communities, to determine, and design their own plans of reducing pollution and investing in clean energy infrastructure. The specific implementation of this takes place as the federal Environmental and Climate Justice Block Grants Program is incredibly flexible with funding, and funnels it directly to nonprofit organizations that primarily focus on advocating for disadvantaged communities giving a unique opportunity for disadvantaged communities to be able to receive significant funding in order to design meaningful projects and cater to their specific needs in order to build climate resilience and restore the destroyed natural habitat around them, as well as clean air and water resources. In addition, the Inflation Reduction Act designed its tax credit bonuses to steer clean investments towards low-income communities and those that typically rely on the production of fossil fuels.   However, the Inflation Reduction Act does exemplify a variety of unintended consequences, particularly toward the medical industry surrounding Medicare. The law created policies that mandate government-set prices for medicines covered by the Medicare program. Consequently, this negatively impacted access to medications covered and has discouraged continuing drug development. In addition, the Inflation Reduction Act has shown a lack of data collection, in particular on businesses participating within the climate sectors by race; this fails to ensure accountability and transparency in how resources are being used. Consequently, this results in a larger risk of fraud, abuse, and overspending. Thus, the Inflation Reduction Act has unintentionally impacted older people, which may intensify as the climate emergency continues to adversely affect the health of the elderly population. 

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California’s Senate Bill 1383 (SB1383) is a law passed in 2016 that aims to reduce methane emissions and short-lived climate pollutants. Some requirements of the bill include organic waste recycling, reduction of landfill methane emissions, container color requirements, and more. Overall, since Governor Brown's signing of this bill, California has seen improvements in sustainability. Specifically, since its implementation, 242 million meals worth of unsold food have been sent to underserved communities due to the $28 million CalRecycle grants funding local food recovery infrastructure. In addition, as a result of the bill’s ambitious goals to reduce methane emissions, companies have been investing millions of dollars into composting infrastructure, processing equipment, anaerobic digesters, and more, thus improving the lives of communities that live among or close to facilities that treat waste and organic matter in an unsustainable manner. Despite succeeding in improving waste disposal infrastructure and giving back to low-income communities by repurposing unsold meals, California’s Senate Bill 1383 has shown a few negative outcomes, particularly regarding cost and enforcement. Due to the cost of compliance, local jurisdictions have expressed concern over the cost increase to households and businesses. This can be detrimental, particularly in low-income communities where families are already struggling enough as is. Regarding enforcement, California residents point out that rural communities were not considered, with these communities lacking curbside trash pick-ups and paved roads that can accommodate heavy garbage trucks. Hence, California’s Senate Bill 1383 did improve conditions regarding waste management and lowering emissions, but it failed to consider jurisdictions of low populations and low-income communities, who had to face the ramifications of the bill in their daily lives. 

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Both the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) 2022 and Senate Bill 1381 (SB 1383) have made significant gains for communities that face climate injustice, ranging from repurposing unsold quality food to communities in need due to the climate emergency to tax credit bonuses designed at gearing towards underserved communities affected by fossil fuel production. However, each policy exemplified unintended consequences, and negative economic impacts were shown in both instances. Thus, for future policies aimed at addressing the climate crisis – in particular, climate injustice – this review suggests spending a greater portion at analyzing potential negative economic consequences to ensure that underserved communities do not experience worsened conditions from what they currently have to deal with due to the climate catastrophe. 

‍Policy Problem

A. Risks of Indifference & Stakeholders

Failing to implement policy aimed at combating climate injustice equates to the failure of ensuring that all individuals and communities are able to access clean water, air, food security ,and a safe environment. It is crucial to prioritize assisting underserved communities as they continue to face disproportionate negative impacts of the climate catastrophe in terms of extreme natural disaster events, food, water, and livelihood security, forced displacement, and loss of cultural identity. 

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An example of increasing levels of climate injustice within the Bay Area takes place in West Oakland, where rising toxic sea levels continue to threaten the community – which has been historically a Black enclave located between two major freeways, where government officials deployed infrastructure to disenfranchise people of color. Consequently, as global warming continues to produce rising sea levels, as the atmosphere warms, so does the ocean, where land-based ice melts and water expands on a molecule level. In fact, over the past century, sea levels have increased 8 inches in the San Francisco region, threatening millions of residents and marginalized communities, especially West Oakland. This region includes a variety of hazardous sites, such as old army bases polluted with chemicals and petroleum, and more, which seep into the water, contaminating water underground that continues to rise to the surface due to global warming. This toxic contamination has polluted the ground in West Oakland so much that local residents claim you are not able to even plant your own garden without testing the ground for chemicals. When examining the history of Oakland, it is clear to see that such toxic conditions are the result of legacy racism coming from housing, economic, and other planning policies. Thus, it is crucial for the Bay Area to re-examine existing policy implications and create a new environmental policy that combats current climate injustices as a form of reparations for those who did not consent to living in such conditions. 

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Located approximately just 10 miles away from West Oakland, Richmond, California, experiences negative climate impact from the Chevron Oil Company. Behind a historical location for Black people who migrated in search of both war-time employment during World War II, and an escape from the poor conditions in the United States South, Richmond, CA, became a historically Black-dominant location. Within Richmond is located a major oil refinery owned by Chevron, a big offender in the polluter world. In fact, it was reported that in 2021, a pipeline rupture dumped approximately 800 gallons of diesel fuel into the San Francisco Bay.  This rupture was left unreported, so have been a multitude of other stories that show climate disasters and negative impacts that occur as a result of the Chevron Richmond refinery. This is particularly disheartening as Richmond is a community that is majority working class and predominantly people of color, thus exemplifying climate injustice that occurs in the Bay Area. As a result of the polluting and unsafe infrastructure around the Richmond area, approximately 116,000 residents face health impacts. Such companies as Chevron will not back down as well, with its’ headquarters objecting installing equipment to reduce particulate emissions by 70%, helping the residents of Richmond breathe, and live, better. Thus, focusing on creating climate policy that not only addresses climate injustice, but also implements plans of action in order to combat it within the Bay Area. 

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Climate justice continues to be a topic that many climate advocates actively fight for – such communities that are unable to gather the resources to combat the climate crisis on their own due to financial constraints, discrimination through policy, and historical racism, have their voices heard through such action done by climate advocates. Regarding addressing climate injustice through policy implementation, a variety of stakeholders can be factored into such as underserved communities, state and local government officials, non-profit organizations, and businesses, who all weave into the complex system of addressing climate injustice. Underserved communities are directly impacted by environmental justice policy, as they are the target group for the benefits that will be received as a result. Some benefits include increase in living conditions, vast access to a safe and clean environment, and just conditions where all community members receive the opportunity to experience a life that is not disproportionately impacted by the climate crisis. State government officials are also key stakeholders within climate justice policy, as they play the key role of putting together a variety of actions, bills, policies, and legislative frameworks in order to enact climate justice policy. In addition, local government officials will also factor into this stakeholder role, as their role is to make sure that change is actively happening within their own respective communities. Non-profit organizations carry the responsibility of keeping local government officials in check – ensuring that all promises of climate justice policies are fulfilled within the surrounding region that they represent.

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Underserved communities, particularly in the Bay Area, are made up of low-income families, people of color, and residents of disadvantaged communities. In fact, under a 2-degree Celsius warming scenario, the EPA projected that Black individuals are 34% more likely to live in areas with increases in childhood asthma diagnoses, and 40% more likely to currently live in areas with projected increases in extreme temperature-related deaths. Thus, underserved communities in the Bay Area would demonstrate great interest in supporting new legislation that addresses climate injustice. Both state and local California government officials continue to show great support for climate advocacy to move the state of California towards sustainability, with Congressman Mike Thompson, (CA-04), othering the GREEN Act which was included within the Inflation Reduction Act that was signed into law in 2022. This GREEN Act contained a variety of investments in infrastructure, such as clean power, grid resiliency, energy efficiency, clean fuels, and more. They would exemplify great interest in sponsoring, co-authoring, or supporting policies aimed at tackling climate injustice primarily within the Bay Area, as it would push California towards reaching its own sustainability goals set by Governor Newsom. California non-profit climate advocate organizations will not only be thrilled to know that significant headway is being made with new policy focused on climate justice, but they will also be able to point out any short-comings within policy designs that are implemented in California. Similarly, Californian  businesses that will be impacted with stricter regulations in an attempt to account for low-income communities being impacted by their carbon footprint, will be able to provide insight into the economic impact of the new policies. Hence, regarding the implementation of new environmental justice policy aimed at eliminating injustice with the bay area, key stakeholders would be underserved communities facing disproportionate climate impacts, local and state government officials who will carry out the new policies, and non-profit organizations as well as Californian businesses who will provide insight as to either shortcomings of the design within the policy or the economic implications that the specific policy is causing. 

B. Nonpartisan Reasoning

Bay Area, California, has exemplified climate injustice in a myriad of ways, as low-income and underserved communities continue to face disproportionate climate impacts due to their specific location. Particularly, as the San Francisco Bay Delta Watershed faces continuous threats to sea level rise, specifically projected to rise at east three feet by the end of the century, and coastal communities that are not prepared with climate resilient infrastructure, sustainable practices, and access to clean air and water, will face destruction, loss of livelihoods, and more. In addition, the Bay Area depicts a trend of underserved communities being located near highly polluting industrial sites, that not only worsen the air quality of the surrounding area, but also cause adverse health impacts in such communities, with frequent cases of asthma and other respiratory illnesses present. Therefore, it is important to focus on policy development that is structured on eliminating the presence of climate injustice as the climate emergency continues to threaten the Bay Area. 

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Bi-partisan support is a critical component in the passing of policies that are aimed towards climate justice. As our government continues to display behaviors that exemplify political polarization, it is crucial that we find common ground on important issues such as climate change. This will not only create unanimous support regarding the climate emergency, but will improve the overall time it takes to implement new policies and initiatives. As we continue to encroach the year 2030 – a critical year that will bring along a variety of climate tipping points that when reached, will be irreversible – is is vital for our governments to but all beliefs aside and listen to both science and the people who all recognize that climate change is actively negatively impacting them on a day-to-day basis. Bi-partisan support will ensure that fast action will be installed and that California, particularly the Bay Area, will reach its personal climate goals on time.  Despite its clear necessity, continued divisions between outlooks on climate policy still take place within California. In particular, the secluded Republican counties located in California, continue to deny that climate change is being fueled by anthropogenic activities. This is as a result of primarily consuming distinct news information that are widely recognized as republican news channels. Specifically, according to a 2020 Yale University-led study, large audiences excluding Fox News, recognize that global warming is happening and that it is in fact, human-caused. Despite the immense wildfires that California continues to experience, along with droughts and flooding, Republicans who consume Fox media will continue to not support climate-focused policies as they do not believe that fighting the climate crisis is the people’s responsibility. In addition, the CA 48th 

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Discovering ways to gain bi-partisan support for climate legislation that is focused on achieving climate justice within the Bay Area will be key to accelerating climate justice progress. One way to achieve such action is to create active stakeholder engagement, where, for example, government officials representing a variety of California’s districts visit local community members that are impacted by climate injustice–such as the Richmond area in the Bay that is fighting active pollution being emitted from a Chevron plant. This will create a positive feedback loop where local community members, a part of underserved areas, inspire California government officials to create their own environmental policy projects aimed at fighting local injustice, particularly in the Bay Area. In addition, not only can the key stakeholder group of local and state government officials of California be inspired by visiting impacted communities, they should also create a plan to collaborate with local residents on forming policy work. This form of collaboration can take place in local coffee chats open to all residents, a variety of events, and more. Such cross-sector initiatives  between communities and California government officials will result in informed decision-making, and in this case, will create effective climate justice policies aimed at bettering the conditions of underserved communities in the Bay Area. Another consequence of collaboration will take form in informed decision-making improving conditions for communities that are low-income and underserved, who are already feeling disproportionate climate impacts. Visiting low-income and underserved communities who have taken a hit due to climate pollution is also capable of swaying government officials who are climate deniers, building a strong foundation for bi-partisan support. Hence, it is important to divert our focus towards ways of sways climate deniers who currently hold positions in office, as they have the most power to implement fast action in order to eliminate climate injustice, particularly in the Bay Area, where hundreds of thousands of families fight for better air, water, and life conditions as global warming persists. Without bi-partisan action, progress will never be achieved, as new bills will continue to be struck down or vetoed, and climate injustice will only grow along with the climate emergency. 

Policy Options

Major Policy #1

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Preventing and Dealing With Toxins in Rising Groundwater Levels in the Bay Area

The San Francisco Delta Watershed continues to be impacted by the climate emergency, as more intense periods of heavy rainfall, and an overall warming to global temperature occurs. Specifically the Bay Area has a multitude of toxic sites that could be negatively impacted due to rising groundwater levels. These sites include radioactive materials, small underground petroleum tanks, toxic chemicals, benzenes, nuclear materials, and more. Furthermore, a disproportionate number of the at-risk sites within the Bay Area are actually low-income communities, and communities of color. Hence, this policy review proposes a suggestion of creating a policy framework for both preventing and dealing with existing toxins in at-risk zones for rising groundwater levels in the Bay Area with a special focus on communities of low-income and color. 

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1) Dealing with existing toxins in Bay Area soil and groundwater 

To address existing toxic sites that continue to be present in the Bay Area, this policy review suggests creating a system of grants given to local areas in order to fund operations that safely handle legacy toxic materials, whether it be from World War Two, or other projects, it is important to address and eliminate current toxins present in the Bay Area soil and groundwater. Different toxin-removal methods should include a variety of treatments such as; bioremediation which uses bacteria to break down existing toxins in the soil, chemical oxidation which converts contaminated soils into non-hazardous soils, soil stabilization which involves the addition of immobilizing agents to reduce a contaminants’ leachability, and other physical methods in order to separate or remove the toxins. This way, toxins such as lead which is present in West Oakland soil due to industrial contamination, can be removed and the health of the bay area soil can be revived.  Regarding contaminates located in groundwater, the most common ways of removing toxins are air sparging, and the pump and treat system.  

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The funding for such grants will be received from the recently passed Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) 2022, which has formally committed $370 billion to Action on Climate and Energy. To receive funding from the Inflation Reduction Act, both action of 1) funding for the removal of toxins in Bay Area soil, and 2) repair of old, rusted pipes in the Bay Area, will require an application grant specific to the Inflation Reduction Act Community Change Grants Program. The specific funding will go towards local organizations and private-sector companies that will be responsible for carrying out the actions listed above to ultimately eliminate the presence of toxic soil in the Bay Area. In order to track progress, a website database is recommended for establishment in order to ensure that local residents stay informed on current progress of both pipe repair and the removal of toxins from soil. Ultimately, this section of the policy recommendation aspires to restore healthy soil and ensure that no other toxins seep into Bay Area urban water through faulty pipelines. This policy recommendation focuses specifically on areas such as West Oakland and Richmond which have historically faced disproportionate climate impacts due to being underserved communities. In addition, this policy recommendation will successfully manage the alarming current method of dealing with toxic sites, which is often by adding a “cap” of low-permeability material to mitigate possible leaks. However, this approach does not take into account that groundwater actively mobilizes contaminants underground, thus making this approach to deal with this site ineffective. The costly aspect of fully removing contaminants will be ensured by the grants given through the Inflation Reduction Act. 

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2) Preventing further contamination 

The second half of this policy recommendation deals with preventing further contamination of Bay Area soil from local pollutants. Toxic sites are located everywhere around the Bay Area, including everything from former military bases, chemical factories, to gas stations, and dry cleaners. Such sites can create leaks that contaminate the soil with a variety of hazardous materials: heavy metals, organic chemicals, pesticides, radioisotopes. To prevent further contamination, this policy suggests creating a system of fines handed to companies who are responsible for such leaks. The amount fined will be proportionate to the revenue that the certain location responsible for the leak gains. This way, the policy will avoid unjust fines given to small businesses who cannot afford equipment or services that regularly check for possible leakages of contaminates.  In order to file such reports, through this policy, residents of the surrounding area should be encouraged to file an environmental violations report through the Environmental Protections Agency. For example, a major Superfund site was the AMCO Chemical Superfund site in Oakland, which demolished buildings, removed storage tanks and drums from the site during operations, and polluted contaminants in soil, soil gas, and groundwater near the site. As a response, the EPA initiated action to repurpose old buildings, and start processes of removing contamination from both groundwater and soil. This policy aspires to do similar action, with both implementations of fines for the business leaking contaminates, and actions to remove existing contaminants in soil, ultimately eliminating poor conditions in the Bay Area, particularly low-income communities. In addition, the revenue gained from such fines will go towards empowering local businesses and implementing climate-resilient infrastructure to further mitigate future climate impacts and eliminate climate injustice. 

Major Policy #2

Empowering Residents and Mandating  Reporting on Ongoing Climate Injustices and Big Polluters 

As the climate catastrophe continues, so do the multitude of cases of environmental injustices and other ways that big corporations continue to pollute the surrounding environment. In fact, there have been numerous instances where corporations Greenwashed and deceived their consumers into believing mis-information regarding their linkage to the climate crisis. In particular, this occurred in the Bay Area when a lawsuit was filed against the five world’s largest oil companies (BP, Chevron, Exxon Mobil, Phillips 66, Shell, and the American Petroleum Institute (“API”). This lawsuit, filed in late 2023, focused on alleging that those oil companies engaged in deception campaigns to downplay their role in impacting their surrounding environment. 

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Hence, this major policy will focus on empowering local residents, news sources, and individuals in power to report instances of climate injustice, greenwashing, climate deception, and instances of pollutants, in order to ensure that all voices are heard. In particular, this policy will focus on mandating local news sources such as the San Francisco Chronicle  to implement regular reporting of instances of climate injustice, pollution, and other regulatory work. In addition, this policy will focus on news sources reporting on positive progress regarding the climate catastrophe in the Bay Area to keep a sense of hope and ensure that all local residents are involved, and educated about the development of initiatives around them. This policy will create a system of mandated reporting of climate action in local news sources to make sure that instances of climate injustices do not go unreported – and do not get lost in the shadow of other news and media that may serve as a distractor for the general public. In addition to mandating local news reports on surrounding instances in the Bay Area, this policy will create an incentive-based system for local residents to report instances of climate injustice and other climate-related stories. The funding for such a program will once again be pulled from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) 2022, where Bay Area cities will be required to apply for small grants in order to fund incentives. To spread the word about this incentive-based program, social media accounts and outreach towards local environmental organizations in the Bay Area will be required to be completed. Possible branches of extensions over time may develop in the form of student ambassadorships, and leadership programs, in order to fully empower Bay Area residents to pay attention towards their surrounding environment, particularly towards suspicious locations who may be major pollutants contributing to the climate crisis. This policy suggestion not only encompasses mandates for local Bay Area news sources to report climate instances – particularly related towards injustice – but also the implementation of a local resident incentive-based climate reporting program in order to engage with communities and empower voices that may otherwise be lost among the multitude of mainstream media stories that flood the feeds of news sources. 

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Conclusions and Recommendations

This policy review examined the ongoing environmental injustices within the bay area. Ranging from large oil refineries and power plants being stationed right next to inhabited communities, to toxic levels of soil being so prominent that it is essential to test the soil composition in order to ensure that crops and personal gardens are able to grow within it. Despite California being widely known as a climate leader among all of the other U.S. states, there is still significant progress that can be accomplished within the region of climate injustices, and all policies are capable of being improved with more thorough investigation and database updating. As the climate catastrophe continues to worsen, so do the negative impacts that come along with it. In the case of the Bay Area region, an area of particular concern is the San Francisco Bay Watershed, which is subjected to sea level rise, causing groundwater levels to rise along with it. The main issue with groundwater rise is that the Bay Area has been found to be historically extremely polluted, with contaminants dating back to World War Two industrial sites still present in the soil. The groundwater rise will trigger these toxins to seep into soil even further, and additionally, leech into pipes that are currently in poor condition throughout the bay area. These impacts will be felt disproportionately by low-income communities, communities of color, and underserved communities that have historically felt impacts of discrimination and are generally underprepared to face climate impacts. 

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In order to address these issues, this Policy Review recommends two prominent policies that will address climate injustice and empower community voices. First, this review recommends the utilization of the grant program created by the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) 2022 in order to fund operations to remove contaminants and toxins from both groundwater and soil within the Bay Area, as well as underground pipe-restoration projects to ensure no groundwater seeps into the tap water of Bay Area homes. In addition, this policy recommends the implementation of proportionate fines towards businesses that have contributed towards toxic leaks into the surrounding environment. The revenue gained from the fines will be implemented into projects that aim to make low-income and underserved communities sustainable, as well as help fund projects to make the infrastructure climate-resilient. 

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Next, this policy review recommends the implementation of policy that mandates local news sources to report surrounding instances of climate injustices, climate progress, and negative impacts of certain activities. This will ensure that all residents are up to date, and that all stories of local climate instances are told. In addition, this policy will require the creation of an incentive-based climate polluter system, where local Bay Area residents will be empowered to report all instances they see to the Environmental Protection Database. In return, local residents will be able to claim incentives that will be funded from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) 2022 Community Change Grants Program. This simultaneous system of both empowering local residents, and cleaning the environment around them, will hopefully achieve the elimination of climate injustice instances within the Bay Area, California. We only have approximately 5 years left to continue fighting for sustainability, before climate tipping points are reached, and there will be no more communities left to fight for. This is why this policy review calls for overall urgent climate action – specifically policies focused on climate justice – to be implemented within the Bay Area in order to ensure that our communities are safe, healthy, and climate-resilient.

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‍Acknowledgment

The Institute for Youth in Policy wishes to acknowledge Paul Kramer, Carlos Bindert, Gwen Singer, and other contributors for developing and maintaining the Programming Department within the Institute.

References

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https://www.gov.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Fact-Sheet-California-Climate-Commitment.pdf?emrc=1ff9ee 

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