The Governor's Executive Order B-30-15, issued today, sets a California greenhouse gas reduction target of 40% of 1990 levels by 2030 - establishing a benchmark between the state's 2020 and 2050 goals. The executive order also specifically addresses the need for climate adaptation and directs state government to:

• Incorporate climate-change impacts into the state's Five-Year Infrastructure Plan.
• Update the Safeguarding California Plan - the state's climate adaption strategy - to identify how climate change will affect California infrastructure and industry, and what actions the state can take to reduce the risks posed by climate change.
• Factor climate change into state agencies' planning and investment decisions.
• Implement measures under existing agency and departmental authority to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Through all of you, as our members, the Local Government Commission (LGC) has been working to support state leadership on mitigation from our inception and, more recently, pushing forward the passage, design and implementation of AB 32 and SB 375. Let's take a minute to celebrate our collective success and reflect on how our pioneering work helped to lay the groundwork for this success.

We supported the passage and design of AB 32 and SB 375:

In 2007, the LGC partnered with then-Attorney General Jerry Brown to hold a statewide series of workshops to help local governments assess GHG-related pollution impacts through CEQA and proactively address potential climate-change impacts. In 2008 after the passage of SB 375 - the Sustainable Communities and Climate Protection Act - we held the first statewide workshop series to help local government understand the implication of this new legislation. Collectively, these workshops reached nearly 2,000 local leaders across the state. That year, the LGC also worked with some of the top minds on the subject to develop the Ahwahnee Principles for Climate Change.

We are supporting AB 32 and SB 375 local implementation:

• Since 2010, the LGC has worked through the Statewide Energy Efficiency Collaborative (SEEC) and the Statewide Local Government Energy Efficiency Best Practices Coordinator to provide no-cost resources to support local energy and climate initiatives. 
• Last year, the LGC rolled out a new CivicSpark Governor's Initiative AmeriCorps program in partnership with the State of California to provide high-quality, technical support to local leaders across the state pursuing initiatives to increase clean energy, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, safeguard against climate-change impacts, and implement Sustainable Community Strategies. CivicSpark is currently involved in climate-smart projects supporting over 90 local governments throughout the state. 

We've also been front-runners on adaptation:

• In 2010, the LGC led two of the first regional climate-change vulnerability assessments in the state in San Luis Obispo and Fresno counties, and worked with stakeholders there to develop response strategies across socioeconomic and natural systems.
• In 2013, the LGC became the fiscal agent and coordinator for the Alliance for Regional Collaboratives for Climate Adaptation (ARCCA), a network of five regional adaptation networks from across California. ARRCA has become a recognized and valued voice asked to weigh in on state plans (including the Safeguarding California adaptation strategy). The LGC and ARCCA members have been asked to present to the Little Hoover Commission and the Senate Environmental Quality committee on adaptation and provide input to state officials working on adaptation legislation. This relationship has been so strong, that ARCCA was specifically called out in the Governor's briefing FAQ today as an example of regional coordination.
• Last year, the LGC in partnership with the state organized the first-ever statewide California Adaptation Forum, attracting over 800 local, regional and statewide leaders from California and across the nation. Immediately following the forum, the LGC met with a small group of practitioners and decision-makers to discuss priority action areas - including state leadership in the form of legislative action or executive order - and help ensure that state investments consider the impact of climate change. In keeping with that recommendation, the Governor's Executive Order directs state agencies to incorporate climate-change impacts into planning and investment decisions, including the state's Five-Year Infrastructure Plan.

From our inception as a state commission under Jerry Brown in the late 1970's and our formation as a nonprofit in 1981, the LGC has supported the three pillars of the Governor's 2030 goals - reaching 50% renewable energy, cutting in half our vehicle fuel use, and doubling the energy efficiency of existing buildings.

We've worked with local governments to foster innovative approaches and push the envelope on strategies that reduce waste, energy, water use and greenhouse gas emissions. We've helped to enact state legislation to help create local Community Energy Authorities, worked on the first Community Choice Aggregation feasibility studies (in 2003), provided active transportation and community design assistance for the past 25 years, supported the formation of the statewide Energy Upgrade California to reduce energy use in existing building and continue to work with the Local Government Sustainable Energy Coalition (which LGC staff and support as a founding player and fiscal agent) to push for regulatory reform and local innovation. And we're just getting started!

This is a big day, and as has been historically true, the Local Government Commission is a strong and effective voice at the table and a vital part of the leading-edge conversation on critical issues facing California communities. 

Thank you for being early leaders - creating the catalytic models and political will that provide the backbone to our collective success. We look forward to working with you and for you to achieve these ambitious goals, to identify resources, so we can continue setting the pace for California and the nation.