Climate Change Archives

Advocates Demand Housing, Transportation, Environmental Justice in Cap-and-Trade Reauthorization

March 10, 2025/in Blog, Climate Change, Housing, Policy, Transportation/by Zack Deutsch-Gross

Transform is leading a coalition of over 50 advocacy groups in housing, transportation, climate, and equity to urge California’s legislature to improve the state’s landmark Cap-and-Trade Program, closing loopholes that subsidize our most polluting industries and reinvesting additional revenue in sustainable transportation and affordable housing programs that center frontline communities.

What is Cap-and-Trade?

California’s Cap-and-Trade Program puts a limit on overall carbon emissions each year by charging large polluters based on their emissions. The allowed emissions limit, or cap, lowers over time and the price of carbon emissions, at least in theory, increases.

This incentivizes polluters to reduce their emissions via a market trading system. The program generates $4 billion a year that is reinvested in programs that further reduce emissions, such as new affordable housing near transit and sustainable transportation options.

With the program set to expire in 2030, a diverse movement of organizations spanning issues of housing, transportation, climate, and environmental justice are uniting against the interests of extractive carbon-spewing industries. The carbon lobby is strong and well-funded after decades of profiting from lax regulation and externalized harms, so the voices advocating for a cleaner, greener, more equitable Cap-and-Trade Program must be loud.

Current status of Cap-and-Trade

California’s Cap-and-Trade carbon market has provided funding for many worthy projects. For example, the Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities (AHSC) Program, which provides grants for infill housing and sustainable transportation, is a smart way to reduce vehicle miles traveled by providing affordable housing close to transit and amenities. Cap-and-Trade also funds vital transit through the Transit and Intercity Rail Corridor Enhancement Program (TIRCP) and the Low Carbon Transit Operations Program (LCTOP), as well as California High-Speed Rail.

However, from the start, the carbon lobby has gotten loopholes in Cap-and-Trade. Over 50% of all pollution allowances are given free to utilities and carbon-intensive industries like oil, gas, and cement production. While these free allowances are intended to protect Californians from price hikes, they are effectively massive subsidies for polluting industries. In fact, a Pro Publica investigation showed that, in the initial years of the program, emissions from the oil and gas industry rose rather than declined.

Astroturf “green” groups are already lobbying in Sacramento for a “clean” reauthorization that would continue billions of dollars of oil and gas subsidies via these free pollution allowances.

Full funding for frontline communities

The lack of affordable housing and sustainable transportation options in California are major contributors to the climate crisis and increasing unaffordability, and significant investment is needed. At the same time, frontline communities have seen very few greenhouse gas emissions reductions or air quality improvements since the advent of Cap-and-Trade, and many of our top priorities, like Transformative Climate Communities and Equitable Building Decarbonization, remain underfunded.

Rather than fighting over scraps of the revenue from Cap-and-Trade, Transform and our allies have come together around a set of recommendations rooted in shared solidarity across different funding areas. By removing free allowances and offsets, another subsidy that allows polluters to keep polluting, we can not only achieve additional reductions in pollution that damages climate and health, but we can also increase the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, adding revenue to support existing and additional expenditures that prioritize frontline communities, affordable housing, and sustainable transportation.

A better Cap-and-Trade Program

The reauthorization of the Cap-and-Trade Program is a critical opportunity to enhance its structure. Transform will continue to campaign for a more effective program that truly reduces carbon emissions, reduces the pollution burden on environmental justice communities, and advances California’s sustainable transportation and affordable housing goals.

Read the full letter.

Housing and Transportation Shared Priorities for Cap and Trade Download

We Won’t Be Divided: Transform Keeps Fighting for Sustainability and Justice

February 26, 2025/in Blog, Climate Change/by Transform Staff

The second Trump administration is here, already emboldening hate, stripping protections from vulnerable communities, and unraveling decades of progress on climate and equity. These senseless and destructive actions are designed to divide and disorient us and to erode the very systems that allow people to build power together and speak up for change.

Trump and his enablers are dismantling climate policies, attacking sustainable transportation, and erasing equity as a guiding principle. They are gutting EV funding, defunding equity-centered infrastructure, and stripping vital clean transportation investments from the communities that need them most. They’re investigating California High-Speed Rail and illegally interfering with NYC congestion pricing. His DOT plans to eliminate all funding for climate action, racial and gender equity, and environmental justice.

Public transit, safe streets, and walkable communities bring people together — but under Trump, these spaces are under attack. His administration’s deportation crackdowns and assaults on trans rights are making public spaces unsafe — turning even schools, workplaces, and public restrooms into sites of fear.

But here’s what they don’t understand: We are not easily divided. We are not easily deterred. And we are certainly not giving up. Here in the Bay Area and in California, our movement is fighting for communities that are just, sustainable, and connected. For three decades, Transform has been at the forefront of that fight, and now, we’re doubling down.

Transform’s work: A beacon in the storm

Transform has always built power from the ground up — because real democracy starts in our communities. Democracy is built through engaging, educating, and empowering people by listening to and lifting up the voices of communities that have borne the brunt of racist planning and underinvestment over the course of decades. And now is the time to double down on that work.

Here’s how we’re fighting back:

Protecting essential infrastructure investments: We’re fighting Trump’s attempts to claw back critical IIJA/IRA investments in sustainable, equitable mobility.
Pushing California to keep leading the way: We are making sure that California continues to lead the nation in investing in transit, biking, and walking instead of freeway expansion — holding Caltrans and our elected officials accountable.
Defending investments in transit-oriented, affordable housing: We are partnering with environmental justice organizations to ensure that California’s Cap-and-Trade Program truly benefits the communities most impacted by climate change.
Empowering communities: We are listening, learning, and partnering with people on the ground — because those most affected by these policies should be the ones shaping solutions. We’re partnering with city staff and elected officials to develop mobility plans that foster inclusivity and safety.
Promoting truly safe transit for everyone: We promote safety solutions that do not rely on policing but instead prioritize community-based strategies. Our 2023 safety report lays out a vision for making transit and public spaces safe for everyone.
Walking in solidarity with vulnerable immigrant families by helping their kids get to school safely in walking school buses.

This is the moment to act

Now is not the time to retreat. Now is the time to organize, to push harder, to demand the just and sustainable communities we all deserve.

We need you in this fight. Here’s how you can take action:

Tell Governor Newsom to take bold action by stopping highway expansion and investing in California’s clean transportation future.
Support our work: Your financial support of Transform helps us fight for safe, equitable, and sustainable mobility solutions. Chip in now.
Educate yourself and others: Learn how to support vulnerable communities in public spaces.

Transform has always been about building the world we want to see — one rooted in connection, community, and democracy. That work has never been more urgent. But we are not in this struggle alone: our supporters, community partners, fellow advocates — YOU — are vital to our success. We won’t be divided. Together, we can stand against hate, against fear, and against the destruction of our planet and our communities.

Movement Forming Against Highway Widening

January 28, 2025/in Blog, Climate Change, Policy, Transportation/by Zack Deutsch-Gross

On January 21, 2025, Transform was one of 61 nonprofits that joined together to send a message to California agencies in charge of transportation, housing, and air quality: We urgently need to lower our transportation emissions now. Transform was a central member of the group drafting the letter, which outlines concrete steps the agencies must take to ensure California meets its transportation emission targets.

Transform’s work advocating for transportation and housing policies to avert climate change has never been more crucial. The wildfires that have devastated Los Angeles are just the latest in a string of climate disasters to rock our state, threatening the lives and livelihoods of Californians. Yet our state agencies and elected officials often act as if changing our driving habits and petroleum addiction would be more harmful than fires and floods that wipe out whole towns and communities.

We can’t afford to push climate action to some fuzzy date in the future. We need concrete, significant action now. The strong and determined coalition united behind this letter is demanding just that.

No help from Washington

One of the biggest sticking points for climate action is money. It costs money to ensure transit systems have robust operating budgets. Building infill housing near transit hubs takes funding. Creating bicycle- and pedestrian-friendly streets requires infrastructure spending that most California communities can’t take on without support.

The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) and other infrastructure legislation passed during the last administration sent a large influx of money to the states to fund climate-resilient infrastructure. Unfortunately, even under a supportive administration, California used the funding on projects that will lead to a net increase in greenhouse gas emissions.

But, as the letter notes, we can’t expect support from the federal government under the current administration, which has already signaled its intent to prioritize oil production and strip EV mandates. The good news is that California has the money it needs for transportation transformation.

Stop building highways

Transportation emissions are the largest single source of GHGs in California, and the state has developed excellent policies to reduce tailpipe emissions. However, while our state’s transportation spending includes some funding to support active and public transportation, we’re still spending too much money on highway expansion.

Every mile of state-controlled highway is a debt against the future. Although planners widen highways to reduce congestion, it’s empirically evident that widening roads only eases traffic flow for a few years. In the long term, it leads to more driving, more pollution, more climate-killing emissions, and even worse traffic jams. And, every highway mile California builds is a future maintenance cost. New highways are money pits that drag climate stability down with them.

The coalition letter demands that the agencies controlling California’s transportation budget take steps to ensure we follow established laws and policies for reducing driving. Plus, simply shifting the money allocated for new freeway miles would free up a significant amount of money that could be used to shore up struggling public transit systems and build low-stress bike networks and walkable neighborhoods.

Strength in numbers

ClimatePlan headed the coalition that sent the letter. The group included environmental advocates like NRDC, the Center for Biological Diversity, and the Sierra Club. Regional and statewide active transportation groups signed on, including local bicycle coalitions in Santa Monica, San Diego, the East Bay, and Los Angeles, as well as CalBike and California Walks. The Coalition for Clean Air, the American Lung Association, and the Central California Asthma Collective are part of the coalition, as are climate action groups, including Climate Action California, 350 chapters, and Elders Climate Action. Transit, housing, and street safety groups also signed on.

The diversity of the groups coming together to advocate for a shift in California’s transportation spending reflects the seriousness of the issue. Changing the focus of our transportation policies from moving as many cars and trucks as possible as fast as possible to clean, efficient, and safe alternatives affects every facet of our lives. Spending more on bike lanes and sidewalks creates safer streets, reducing traffic fatalities and injuries. Making transit more efficient reduces air pollution that causes a myriad of diseases, from lung cancer to Alzheimer’s.

A coalition with voices from so many diverse interest areas will be heard in Sacramento. Transform is proud to join forces with allies across disciplines to unite around our shared interest in moving California back from the climate abyss.

The steps we take to wean California from its carbon addiction are crucial to protect our communities from the worst ravages of climate change. But those same actions also improve health and well-being in a variety of ways. Reimagining our transportation systems is an opportunity to create a future that’s human-centered, efficient, cost-effective, and healthy, for the planet and the creatures who depend on it.

Read the letter:

Accelerate Transpo Emissions Reduction 20250121 Download

MTC Tolling Study an Important Step Forward, But Equity Concerns Remain

December 4, 2024/in Blog, Climate Change, Transportation/by Abibat Rahman-Davies

The Bay Area has two problems with the same solution: highway congestion and the climate crisis. Both require us to drive less and use other transportation modes more. However, incentivizing people to choose other modes can be a challenge.

In 2022, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) launched the Next Generation Bay Area Freeways Study with the goals of “analyzing the feasibility, costs, benefits, and public support for tolling certain Bay Area freeways as a strategy for delivering reliably high-speed travel and reducing greenhouse gas emissions caused by passenger vehicles.” In September and October 2024, MTC briefed and solicited feedback from Transform staff on the options it’s studying.

What is tolling?

Toll roads are not a new concept. In other parts of the country, you can find many highways where drivers must pay a fee on entering or exiting. This may be a flat fee or based on the distance traveled.

Studies have found that introducing tolls can reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Tolls on highway travel have the added benefit of reducing congestion, making travel faster for those who still need to drive. In fact, tolling is a better long-term solution for congestion than adding highway lanes. New lanes, even HOV or tolled lanes, lead to more driving, more greenhouse gases, and — within five to 10 years — more congestion.

Getting around in a private vehicle imposes an external cost on everyone, whether they drive or not, by creating pollution and contributing to a warming climate. Tolls place more of the true costs of driving back on the driver. Tolling is an excellent strategy for the Bay Area to explore. However, as the study notes, the MTC doesn’t currently have the authority to impose tolls; it would need state legislation to do that.

Two tolling options

The MTC study includes six pathways that they studied but really focuses on two main pathways. The first is all-lane highway tolling, which means all lanes of all major highways during weekday rush hours from 6-10 a.m. and 3-7 p.m. would be tolled. The second is a mileage-based user fee that would charge drivers on all roads in the Bay Area based on the number of miles they drive during all hours.

When it comes to affordability, reliability, equity, and safety, each option has its pros and cons, according to modeling MTC staff uses to estimate the costs and benefits. For example, all-lane tolling would potentially:

Decrease overall vehicle miles traveled by 4%
Decrease greenhouse gas emissions by 2%
Decrease highway peak travel times by 14%
Increase transit usage by 0.3%.

The tolling option would also be more affordable for families as tolls for households below 200% of the federal poverty level would be capped at a maximum of $70 annually.

A mileage-based user fee would:

Decrease overall vehicle miles traveled by 2%
Decrease greenhouse gas emissions by 2%
Decrease highway peak travel times by 2%
Increase transit usage by 0.7%.

A mileage-based user fee would be less affordable for families than all-lane tolling, as households below 200% of the federal poverty level would pay as much as $300 annually before they reached the cap.

The all-lane tolling option could increase local street usage by 11%, according to MTC’s modeling, bringing more smog and pollution to our local roads. It could also cause local roads to need more frequent repairs, which would upset local politicians. However, it is important to note that tolling freeways doesn’t just divert all the traffic to local roads. It’s also more likely to reduce overall demand for driving, so even though MTC’s modeling shows an increase in local road usage, we might not see this big of an increase on local roads when it’s applied in real-world conditions. This option would decrease vehicle miles traveled on highways by much more than a mileage-based user fee, but the user fee does not increase local street usage at all. In fact, it decreases street usage by 2%.

Increasing transit usage is an important cornerstone of Transform’s philosophy, and the mileage-based user fee would increase transit usage more than highway tolling because it would generate more revenues than highway tolling. Therefore, more transit investments could be made by reinvesting revenues from the mileage-based user fee for transit for the same amount of GHG reduction. The user fee has a lower initial financial cost to implement because it comes with zero capital costs and brings in an annual net revenue of $2 billion. All-lane tolling would require $2.3 billion in capital costs to implement and would bring in an annual net revenue of $550 million.

Equitable tolling

For Transform, equity is an essential component in all policy changes. Tolling and increasing transit ridership are imperative in reaching our state climate goals and decreasing climate change globally. If structured equitably, these measures can also redress past transportation harms and avoid burdening already struggling families.

One of the best ways to mitigate harm to lower-income drivers is by capping the amount of money low-income families will pay in new tolls. MTC has proposed monthly caps on toll expenditures where households earning less than 200% of the federal poverty level — $62,400 for a family of four — only pay a maximum of $30 a month, while households at 200-300% of the federal poverty level would only pay a $60 maximum per month.

Additionally, highway tolls could result in a large increase in the use of local streets. While this model states that equity priority communities — Census tracts with a significant concentration of underserved populations, including people of color and households with low incomes — would not be disproportionately impacted, we remain cautious that the increase in vehicle miles traveled on local streets doesn’t disproportionately impact communities already burdened by pollution.

Equity includes ensuring that all regions of the Bay Area benefit from the money raised through tolling. Therefore, it is concerning that, in the highway tolling option being studied by MTC, the North Bay would only get 6% of the revenue from regional tolling for transit, local roads, and reparative infrastructure (investments in highway-adjacent low-income communities, such as urban greening and highway pedestrian crossings). We are all one region, so re-investment should not be exclusively tied to the percentage of county-generated revenue but allocated with the need and the importance of regional connectivity in mind.

All-lane tolling must also be equitable in how revenues are spent. MTC has proposed that 50% of the revenue from all-lane tolling will go to transit improvements, while 30% will go to roadway improvements and 15% to ‘reparative community investments.’ Since low-income and marginalized communities disproportionately use transit and have been harmed by past transportation decisions, the expenditures from all-lane tolling as proposed are progressive and would be an important step toward a more equitable transportation system.

Next steps for tolling

In a November 2024 policy advisory council meeting, MTC staff stated that while they are not saying one specific policy is better than another, they recommend that for Plan Bay 2050+, MTC should maintain the highway all-lane tolling option as a strategy in the plan and update it with the “latest strategy specifics to better balance tradeoffs between mobility, environmental, and equity outcomes.” In its upcoming implementation plan, MTC will identify actions to address some of the challenges mentioned in this blog.

While potential implementation of these tolling or user fee options would not start until 2035, MTC will be giving recommendations and an implementation roadmap during the fall and winter of 2024 and 2025, so this is a vital time for Transform to weigh in. We have been selected to be part of a diverse group of stakeholders participating in this process and have consistently reiterated the importance of equity in all tolling policy recommendations.

It’s critical to move forward on all-lane tolling, but Transform remains committed to ensuring an equitable solution moves forward.

Board Member Profile: Gloria Bruce on the Intersection of Housing and Transportation

October 2, 2024/in Blog, Climate Change/by Laura McCamy

Gloria Bruce, the Program Director of Housing Security and Public/Private Partnerships at Crankstart (a local family foundation), recently joined Transform’s board of directors. We talked with her about her background in affordable housing, her current foundation role, and what excites her about Transform’s role in the world.

A passion for affordable housing

Bruce had always been interested in community development issues after volunteering with residents of public housing during her college years. When seeking a job during her master’s program at UC Berkeley, a fellowship at HUD connected her with several of the East Bay’s affordable housing organizations, where she found her passion. “I love the people in the [housing] field,” she says, noting that she realized right away she had found the “theory of everything” — the issue that brings together racial, social, and economic justice, and much more. “It’s funny because 20 years ago, housing was not at the top of every conversation the way it is now,” she adds.

After almost two decades of nonprofit leadership in affordable housing, including as executive director of East Bay Housing Organizations, Bruce joined Crankstart last year. “It’s obviously quite different helping to decide how philanthropic funds get out there,” she says. Instead of fundraising and managing yearslong campaigns as groups like EBHO and Transform do, she’s funding nonprofits and working on much shorter timelines.

“I’m working in a very different position in my role in making social change,” Bruce says, noting that she still works with a lot of the same organizations she worked with in her prior roles.”I’m not as directly involved on the ground anymore, but I love finding awesome community leaders to fund and support.”

Joining the Transform team

Although Transform’s housing work intersects with Bruce’s experience, Bruce is a lifelong transit rider and joined the board with more of a focus on transportation. ”I know this is a really pivotal moment, particularly with public transit systems, and I wanted to be a part of that,” she says. “People need to revalue the public sphere and the public good and understand how much our communities are knit together by public transit.” Even if you don’t take the bus or train, she notes, it’s essential to understand how many people rely on it and how transit benefits everyone.

Bruce is excited to support Transform’s work to bring Bay Area transit ridership back to pre-pandemic levels and improve our systems. “We really have to invest in infrastructure and services so they use it, and it’s part of the fabric of their lives,” she says. “Everyone in the Bay Area should have those choices. Transform can be part of painting a vision of this is how we get around as a community.”

Bruce adds, “The other thing I’ve come to feel really passionate about in the last couple of years is traffic violence and pedestrian safety.” While she likes to get around Oakland by bike and transit, she says, “I have definitely adjusted the way I move around town and the way I get my kids around town.”

And she sees the relationship between transportation and housing. “I think that the cost of living in general in the Bay Area is making it hard for so many things to get accomplished,” Bruce says. “Transportation costs are a big part of that, along with housing costs.”

High points and challenges

When Bruce isn’t working, she likes to be outside, taking walks with her family. On days off, you might find her exploring a San Francisco neighborhood she hasn’t been to or taking in amazing views on the hidden stairs and walkways around Oakland and Berkeley.

And she knows the Bay Area she loves didn’t happen by accident. “It’s the behind-the-scenes work over time that shapes the landscape and community,” Bruce says. Transform doesn’t often grab headlines but has often been a force behind needed reforms. From safety improvements to the elements that make neighborhoods vibrant, “None of that happens without skilled advocates working for it.”

Transform is thrilled to have Gloria Bruce supporting our team of skilled advocates.

Regional Housing Bond Measure Pulled from the Ballot — What It Means for Our Movement

August 16, 2024/in Blog, Climate Change, Housing, Policy/by Jenn Guitart

On Wednesday morning, the Bay Area Housing Finance Authority (BAHFA) unanimously voted to remove Regional Measure 4 from the 2024 ballot. The measure would have raised $20 billion to alleviate the Bay Area’s housing and homelessness crisis. Unfortunately, the measure was scuttled in response to a series of eleventh-hour challenges by extremist anti-housing and anti-government activists. This is a tragic missed opportunity for voters to say yes to urgently needed affordable housing and homelessness funding.

This decision is heartbreaking for Transform and other housing advocates, and, more importantly, for the hundreds of thousands of people in our region who now must wait longer for the affordable housing and homelessness solutions Bay Area residents need and deserve.

The decision is also a major setback for our climate and transportation goals. By funding the construction of over 40,000 new affordable homes near transit, the measure would have reduced greenhouse gas emissions by over three million tons and spurred an additional five million transit trips per year.

While it is frustrating that a well-resourced group of naysayers halted progress on housing and homelessness this election, Transform and our partners will continue to build the necessary power to win big on these critical issues.

Looking Forward

All is not lost in the fight for affordable housing. Transform and our partners will be working hard to pass Prop 5 this November, which will lower the voter approval threshold for housing and public infrastructure bond measures to 55%. This measure is critical to advancing future affordable housing bond measures across the state.

Beyond November, our region continues to face significant challenges, from the housing and homelessness crisis to a looming transit fiscal cliff. New regional funding measures for both transportation and affordable housing are urgently needed. Passing both measures in the coming years will take unprecedented collaboration, creativity, and courage.

Transform will play a leading role in both these efforts as we continue our work to empower communities of color, innovate solutions, and advocate for policies and funding — all with the aim of helping people thrive and averting climate disaster. And we will need supporters like you in this fight to build up the necessary resources, political will, and movement organizing to beat the anti-taxers in future election cycles.

In the meantime, get ready to vote yes on Prop 5 in November, and stay tuned for future calls to action in the fight for housing, transportation, and climate justice for our region.

Regional Housing Bond Set to Be on the Ballot in November

June 27, 2024/in Blog, Climate Change, Housing/by Grecia Mannah-Ayon

How the Bay Area Housing Bond Boosts Our Fight Against Climate Change

May 30, 2024/in Blog, Climate Change, Housing, Transportation/by Grecia Mannah-Ayon