“I strongly oppose Prop 45 and urge you to vote NO on it this November.

But first, some background: last year, California already went through an extensive streamlining of California Environmental Control Act (CEQA) oversight, a process that I felt was rushed and problematic. We see the evidence of that in the toxic pollution loophole it created, which I’ve worked with colleagues to close through Senate Bill 954. (That bill has passed the legislature and is now waiting on the Governor’s decision.)

Still, at least that CEQA overhaul went through some process, and as evidenced by SB 954, it is reformable.
Prop 45 takes things into overdrive, drafted by labor industry lobbyists to weaken basic protections that keep our communities safe, eliminate requirements that help us identify better alternatives, and restrict the court’s ability to intervene when an environmental violation is found. Those are some of the most important foundations of CEQA, and they’re all on the chopping block if Prop 45 is passed.

Every law can be improved, but Prop 45 goes far beyond reasonable reforms. It would fast track projects like AI data centers, fossil fuel pipelines, and forest clear-cutting while giving the public less information and less power to push back.

This is important. If Prop 45 passes, it ties the hands of the lawmakers we elect to reform changes that aren’t working and rolls back decades of environmental leadership that have preserved so much of what we love about this state. If and when CEQA changes are needed, we already have a mechanism to do that: it’s called the legislative process.

Mother Nature doesn’t have a  lobbyist. It has us. I urge all California voters to vote NO on Prop 45 this November.”   – Damon Connolly