• U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla (D-California) led 73 colleagues in a letter to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Michael Regan urging the EPA to finalize the strongest feasible multi-pollutant vehicle emission standards for light- and medium-duty vehicles before the end of this year, according to a July 13 statement from the senator’s office. In 2021, U.S. passenger cars and light-duty trucks contributed more than half of all transportation emissions in the U.S. The 2020 passenger fleet produced more than 1 million tons of nitrogen oxide emissions and 33,400 tons of particulate matter pollution annually, disproportionately harming low-income communities and communities of color. The strongest proposal in the EPA’s rulemaking is projected to increase market share for zero-emission vehicles to 69 percent of new vehicle sales by 2032. “Given the urgency of and benefits from addressing threats to public health, including climate change, the unprecedented resources supporting zero-emission vehicle purchases, manufacturing and infrastructure, and the dramatic advances in clean vehicle adoption, we urge the EPA to adopt the strongest vehicle emission standards supported by the technical record, as necessary to protect public health and the environment, before the end of the year,” lawmakers wrote in their letter to the EPA.
• Gov. Gavin Newsom announced that Cal Fire is providing $47 million in grants to help schools convert asphalt to green spaces and plant trees and other vegetation—adding cooler spaces is essential to protecting kids from dangerous extreme heat, according to a July 13 statement from Newsom’s office. California kids are often disproportionately impacted by extreme heat at schools, and these investments boost nature-based designs on school campuses to promote children’s safe physical activity, mental health, and overall well-being. This is the first round of California’s $117 million Green Schoolyard Grant program, which helps schools convert pavement to green spaces, create drought-tolerant natural areas on school grounds, and other activities to help connect children to nature. The program is a part of the governor’s Extreme Heat Action Plan, which is backed by the $52.3 billion California Climate Commitment budget. “California is heading into a hotter, drier future, and extreme heat will only become more dangerous. We’re taking action to protect our kids—especially in underserved communities—from hotter temperatures with our best defense: nature,” Newsom said in the statement. “We’re helping schools tear out asphalt that can reach 140 degrees on hot days—planting trees for shade and adding other plants to provide kids with safer, cooler spaces at school.”
• U.S. Sens. Alex Padilla and Dianne Feinstein (D-California) and Mitt Romney (R-Utah) reintroduced the LA28 Olympic and Paralympic Games Commemorative Coin Act to support and commemorate the 2028 Games set to take place in Los Angeles, according to a July 14 statement from Padilla’s office. The bipartisan legislation would direct the Treasury Department to mint and issue four types of coins in commemoration of the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The coins would be minted at no cost to the federal government, and any proceeds collected from the sale of these commemorative coins would help execute the 2028 games and support its legacy programs, including the promotion of youth sports in the United States. “Every four years, the Olympic and Paralympic Games entertain and inspire us. As Los Angeles prepares to welcome the world in 2028, the sale of commemorative coins will support those preparations and promote youth sports to encourage the next generation of Olympic athletes,” Feinstein said in the statement.
This article appears in Jul 20-30, 2023.