RECENT PRESS RELEASES

from CalCAN

Carbon Cycle Institute Joins CalCAN Coalition
April 5, 2023

CalCAN and CAFF Co-Sponsor Cooperative Farm Equipment Program Legislation
March 13, 2023

CalCAN Looks to New Senate Committee Leadership for Climate and Ag Issues
January 13, 2023

Agriculture Experts to be Recognized for their Leadership on Climate Change
October 31, 2022

Agriculture & Conservation Groups Applaud the Leadership of the California Legislature on Climate Change
September 1, 2022

State Legislature Passes Record Budget Bills with $1.3 Billion in Equitable, Resilient Food & Farming System Investments
September 13, 2021

Hundreds of Food & Farming Organizations Urge Congress to Invest $200 Billion in Rural & Food System Resilience
May 27, 2021

Bond to Invest in Climate Resilience & Food Security Passes Assembly Agriculture Committee
April 15, 2021

Farmworker, Agriculture, Food and Environment Groups Unite in Support of Proposed Legislation to Build a Resilient, Healthy Food Supply
March 26, 2021

Resilient California Report Released
December 16, 2020

Burroughs Family of Farms in Denair Win Prestigious California Leopold Conservation Award
December 7, 2020

Governor Newsom Announces Plan for Advancing Agricultural Climate Solutions
October 7, 2020

Governor Newsom’s Executive Order is an Important Step but Natural and Working Lands Must Be Part of the Solution
September 23, 2020

Farmers and Ranchers Deliver Letter to the House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis
August 27, 2020

California Initiative to Fight Plastic Pollution Submits Petitions to Qualify for Statewide Ballot
August 11, 2020

Agriculture Resilience Act Offers California Farmers Climate Change Solutions
February 26, 2020

Governor Proposes New Climate Smart Agriculture Funding Sources but Falls Short on Dollars Invested
January 10, 2020

More press releases.

RECENT MEDIA COVERAGE

of CalCAN’s work and its advisors and partners

Several climate and flood bonds are competing for ballot slots. Will the Central Valley be overlooked?
AgriPulse, April 2023

“California’s food and farming system is on the frontlines of the climate crisis,” said Asm. Lori Wilson of Suisun City, which borders the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta, as she introduced Assembly Bill 408 in an Agriculture Committee hearing last week. “If the state wants to create a more climate-resilient agriculture sector, then it must act now to scale up investments.”

Of the $3.4 billion pitched in the measure, nearly $1 billion would restore climate-smart programs at CDFA to improve soil health and water-use efficiency, help farmers transition for organic certification, support technical assistance and enable demonstration projects.

With the California Climate & Agriculture Network cosponsoring AB 408, policy director Sandra Nakagawa said many farmers have been questioning whether they can continue to operate following recent winter storms.

Ahead of Fire Season Senator Limón Introduces Legislation to Expand Wildfire Mitigation Efforts
Office of Senator Monique Limón, February 2023

SB 675 is sponsored by the California Climate and Agriculture Network (CalCAN) and was developed in close collaboration with the Community Environmental Council, Fibershed, and local fire professionals, prescribed grazing practitioners, and rangeland ecologists across the state.

“Catastrophic wildfires have become the second largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in recent years, fueling a vicious cycle that has already taken a tremendous toll on farmers and farmworkers,” said Brian Shobe, Deputy Policy Director with the California Climate and Agriculture Network. “Prescribed grazing is a safe, climate-friendly alternative to other vegetation management tools, such as chemical herbicides and fossil-fuel powered equipment, and should be integrated in the state’s wildfire risk reduction programs and strategies.”

California’s Healthy Soils Program Is Mainstreaming Climate-Smart Farming
Civil Eats, November 2022

The number of farms interested in participating in [CA’s Healthy Soils Program] HSP consistently outpaces the funding… “If we reflect back on that first year or two, “says Brian Shobe, deputy policy director at California Climate and Agriculture Network, “we weren’t sure if there would be enough demand. And every year, that funding has increased, and now we’re over 10 times as much funding and we’re seeing growing demand from producers. I think that’s a success in itself.”

Santa Cruz organization helps farms transition to green farming systems
KSBW 8, November 28, 2022

The California Climate and Agriculture Network awarded Sacha Lozano, the program manager for the Resource Conservation District of Santa Cruz County, a climate and agriculture leadership award. The honor comes after the group helped local farms transition to more climate-resilient farming systems.

Expansion of a Lucrative Dairy Digester Market is owing Environmental Worries in the U.S.
Inside Climate News, September 22, 2022

Jeanne Merrill, senior policy adviser at the California Climate and Agriculture Network, an advocacy group, said that the  prospect that other states will increase herd sizes to capture funding from the state could result in “a perversion of California’s climate programs.” Merrill sat on a working group that California’s state government and regulators convened in 2017 to scrutinize greenhouse gas emissions from livestock and dairy operations and propose solutions.

AB 2649 – NWL Climate Target bill
Agri-Pulse, August 8, 2022

The Legislature could soon approve a measure that would expand on California’s climate plan by adding a more aggressive carbon sequestration goal for natural and working lands. The legislation has gained the backing of more than 80 environmental groups, along with American Farmland Trust, the California Climate and Agriculture Network and the California Association of Resource Conservation Districts.

National Grid’s pivot to ‘renewable’ natural gas would require more pipelines, keep producing carbon
Gothamist, May 6, 2022

“The California Climate and Agriculture Network (CalCAN), a network of sustainable agriculture advocates, reports that upping the production of manure and decaying food waste could also increase the impacts on the local environment because methane is more potent at warming the atmosphere than carbon.”

Newsom’s climate plans raise concerns over pesticides and organic farming
Agri-Pulse, January 26, 2022

Jeanne Merrill, policy director for the California Climate and Agriculture Network, was glad to see organic agriculture within the scenarios but was worried about the ongoing loss of farmland to development in California. Staff assured Merrill the Scoping Plan update will take into account land use changes, likely by incorporating research from California’s Fourth Climate Change Assessment.

Is a State Program to Foster Sustainable Farming Leaving Out Small-Scale Growers and Farmers of Color?
Inside Climate News, January 4, 2022

“A first-come, first-serve award system may be partly to blame, as larger operations with office staff or money to hire a grant writer have been able to secure money more quickly. ‘Those farmers who have fewer resources, and often those were farmers of color, got in their applications later. But the money was already gone,’ said CalCAN’s Merrill.”

More media coverage.