Whereas, the historic and devastating fires in Los Angeles have tragically emphasized the grave peril of catastrophic climate change, which has and will continue to put Californians in the crosshairs of phenomena such as “hydroclimate whiplash,” that occurs as weather starkly shifts from extremely wet to extremely dry; and

Whereas, the Trump administration has pulled the United States out of the Paris Climate Agreement, is defunding and attacking climate science, rolling back the Biden Administration’s climate policies, undermining California’s Climate actions, and aggressively pursuing more fossil fuel extraction and use in America; and

Whereas, California has been a leader on climate policy at the state level and is seeking to protect those policies from federal intervention; and

Whereas, despite California’s stated climate goals, Big Oil continues to benefit from significant tax benefits that bolster the oil and gas sector; and

Whereas, ending subsidies to Big Oil can add money to the budget to help pay for critical climate initiatives that will fund key zero emission transportation initiatives, clean air programs, and climate equity measures; and

Whereas, eliminating oil and gas subsidies could increase the General Fund by as much as $22 million in the first year and $17 million annually thereafter.

Therefore, be it resolved, that CFT calls on the Governor and supports or sponsors legislation to eliminate deductions for intangible immediate drilling costs that favor oil and gas corporations, end percentage depletion rules that also provide special treatment for the fossil fuel industry, and terminate the enhanced oil recovery cost credit; and

Be it finally resolved, that CFT calls on the Governor and supports or sponsors legislation to repeal the Water’s Edge Election and Research Development credits that allow businesses to exclude income and factors of US-affiliates when calculating their income in California and potentially recover $7 billion in funding.

Submitted by the Labor and Climate Justice Education Committee