California Governor Jerry Brown’s budget proposal includes some major investments in the environment. As Amy Quinton reports from Sacramento, it lays out how he wants to spend $850 million in revenue from the state’s greenhouse gas reduction program known as cap-and-trade.
As expected, Governor Brown wants to invest a large portion of money raised from carbon auctions on High Speed Rail. The proposal includes $300 million for construction and integration of the rail system that he’s pitched as an environmentally-friendly alternative to cars.
He also proposes investing in low carbon transportation, sustainable communities and clean energy. Erica Morehouse is with the Environmental Defense Fund.
Morehouse: “We also heard that they could exceed the 25-percent target for spending in disadvantaged communities which is a great thing since those communities are the ones that bear the brunt of pollution and are most vulnerable to climate change.“
Brown also would repay $100 million of a $500 million loan taken from the cap and trade program to balance the state’s books last year.
