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Our Silicon Valley Youth Climate Action State Advocacy Team works with environmental groups across California including Environment California, Sierra Club California, The Climate Center, 350 Silicon Valley/Bay Area and many more, to help push forward ambitious, yet achievable solutions that will keep California on the forefront of the battle against climate change.

Each year, we support and oppose many bills, conduct advocacy meetings with elected members of our State legislature that represent Silicon Valley, and conduct presentations and outreach to key stakeholders for support of select critical bills aligned with our mission. We continue our policy advocacy through writing support letters and op-eds, as well as holding workshops on writing support letters.

2025 Wins

Sent 29 letters of support/opposition to the state legislature

Lead co-sponsorship of Senate Bill 1048, the Climate Literacy Seal. SB 1048 has passed the Senate Education Committee (with a unanimous vote), Senate Appropriations, and is now going to the Senate Floor for a vote.
Launched a data center bill initiative, where we met with 10 Community Choice Aggregators (San Jose Clean Energy, Silicon Valley Clean Energy), climate nonprofits (Climate Action California), elected officials (Senator Becker, Senator Padilla, Assemblymember Papan, etc.), and more to draft bill ideas on sustainable water use and incentives for data centers to be more climate-friendly.

2024 wins

Prop 4 the Climate Bond Passed-We provided local support, education, and outreach in an effort to have electors pass Proposition 4. Prop 4 will invest $10 billion in clean air and water, solutions to extreme heat, wildfire readiness, climate-friendly agriculture, and more.
Defending California’s climate budget-In January, 2024, Governor Newsom proposed $4.7 billion in cuts and delays to life-saving climate and clean energy investments. We supported a state-wide coalition effort to defend investments in equitable climate solutions. Our advocacy helped restore funding for biking and walking infrastructure, electric vehicle incentives for disadvantaged communities, offshore wind power development, programs to make building electrification accessible to working-class Californians, climate-beneficial agriculture, and more.
Ending state fossil fuel subsidies and divesting from Big Oil: We supported a state-wide effort end state subsidies and tax breaks for oil and gas corporations.
AB460 (Bauer-Kahan): We focused on increasing penalties for parties who use water illegally

Letters of Support:
- 11 Signed
- 7 Sent
- AB 460
Op-Eds & LTEs: Workshops on drafting Op-Eds & LTEs
State Advocacy Workshop w/ Tara Sreekrishnan: How to’s for state level advocacy and contacting legislators

12 Bills signed into law in 2023 we supported

AB1167 (Carrillo, Wendy): Requires oil well operators to save money for eventual closure
AB285 (Rivas, Luz): climate change education, requirement in K-12
AB363 (Bauer-Kahan): Bans neonicotinoid pesticide use
AB496 (Friedman): Bans toxic chemicals from cosmetics
AB652 (Lee): Environmental justice oversight of pesticides
SB253 (Wiener): Climate Corporate Data Accountability Act
SB261 (Stern): Discloses Climate Related Financial Risk
SB49 (Becker): Solar on state highways
SB642 (Cortese): County enforcement of hazardous waste laws
SB69 (Cortese): Transparent environmental review
SB740 (Cortese): Unionized workers in dangerous fields
SB745 (Cortese): Drought-Resistant Buildings Act

7 Bills we opposed no long moving forward:

AB1372 (Alvarez): Undermining zero emission truck regulation

AB324 (Pacheco): Sets goal for renewable hydrogen procurement
AB66 (Mathis): Setting timelines for water project approval
AB698 (Essayli): Bans gas stove prohibitions
SB23 (Caballero): Limits state review and requirements on water infrastructure
SB438 (Caballero): Allows accidental oil production in carbon capture projects
SB861 (Dahle): Sets a time limit on lawsuits over certain water projects

6 Bills signed into law in 2022 we supported:

SB1032 (Becker): Low-cost Financing for Building "Decarb"

SB1158 (Becker): Roadmap to 27/7 Clean Energy
SB1203 (Becker): State Agencies Zero-Net Emissions by 2035
SB887 (Becker): Speed up approval of Transmission Infrastructure to Clean Energy
SB54 (Bennett): Packaging/serviceware made recyclable/compostable
AB2248 (Kalra): Conservating 30% of land and water

3 Bills we opposed no longer moving forward:

SB396 (Bradford): Utility Tree Removal Without Proper Oversight or Landowner Input
SB890 (Nielsen): Giveaway for Water Storage Projects
SB1219 (Hurtado): Promoting Water Mismanagement

past bills signed into law we supported:

AB2287 - Plastic Product Compostability Certification
AB3214 - Offshore Oil Spill Penalties
AB3074 - Ember-Resistant Zones protecting lives and properties from wildfires
AB3163 - Wildfire Risk Model which would help the state and communities prepare for wildfires

past bills we opposed no longer moving forward:

AB1002 - Eliminating EV Charging Infrastructure Incentives
AB3279 - Making CEQA Lawsuits more expensive

For a complete list of bills signed by the governor, visit this link.