| On the ballot this November is Prop. 45, an extremely concerning ballot measure. Prop 45 guts air, water, and health protections for polluting projects. It shifts power from public agencies to developers, and nearly eliminates the courts’ ability to prevent toxic contamination of our air and water. These changes could apply to everything from data centers and freeway expansions to dams, landfill gas facilities, and waste conversion projects. If a project pollutes our air and water, taxpayers will have to pay to clean it up. Prop 45 forces cities, counties, and the state to absorb the long-term costs of pollution, infrastructure damage, public health impacts, and climate risks. Corporations save money; the public pays more. Prop 45 leaves California vulnerable to the federal government’s extreme environmental rollbacks. Federal environmental laws that protect clean air, clean water, and wildlife are being dismantled. Prop 45 removes our state’s strongest backstop to the federal rollback. Prop 45 is being bankrolled by special interests and corporations. The measure is heavily funded by corporate PACs, for-profit utilities, and industrial interests. These entities are protecting corporate profits, not everyday Californians. Prop 45 gives corporations the right to sue cities that try to stop or fix polluting projects. It allows developers to sue public agencies for denying polluting projects or imposing conditions that protect communities – such as requiring a data center to reduce its water use. Take a moment to read the letter of opposition to Prop 45 (signed by just about every environmental group in California, including the Los Cerritos Wetlands Land Trust. Then sign up to get involved; it will take all of us to push back on this destruction ballot measure. Don’t let corporations and special interests win; sign up today for updates and more. |