LIVERegenerate California
We have about 10 years to make meaningful progress to stop climate change by phasing out fossil fuels. Change starts at home, and we can catalyze progress across the world by positioning Los Angeles, then California, and then the nation to move to 100% clean energy. This grant will help us build a campaign to equitably phase out fossil fuel power plants by training 160 activists from frontline LA communities in the organizing and campaign skills needed to phase out LA’s fossil fuel power plants.
In which areas of Los Angeles will you be directly working?
South LA
South Bay
County of Los Angeles
City of Los Angeles
South East LA
In what stage of innovation is this project?
Applying a proven model or solution to a new issue or sector (e.g, using a job recruiting software or strategy to match clients to supportive housing sites, applying demonstrated strategies from advocating for college affordability to advocating for housing affordability and homelessness, etc.)
Please list the organizations collaborating on this proposal.
Lead applicant: California Environmental Justice Alliance (CEJA)
Central Coast Alliance United for a Sustainable Economy (CAUSE)
Communities for a Better Environment (CBE)
Community Center for Action and Environmental Justice (CCAEJ)
Sierra Club’s My Generation Campaign
fiscally sponsored by Sierra Club Foundation
If you are submitting a collaborative proposal, please describe the specific role of partner organizations in the project.
Each coalition member will bring its proven track record of successfully fighting gas plants and advocating for clean energy to co-develop curriculum and co-lead trainings with the coalition and their community leaders. Our 4 trainings will emphasize the shared experience and leadership of various environmental justice leaders that lead campaigns to replace dirty gas plants with equitable and community-led clean solutions.
Staff from each coalition member will participate in all 4 trainings. Collectively, the coalition will mobilize 160 LA County residents to participate in our trainings - 3 in LA and 1 in the Inland Valley. Community leaders from the Central Coast and from Inland Valley will participate in at least 2 of the trainings to enrich the knowledge of the LA County trainees.
What is the need you’re responding to?
The Regenerate California campaign will phase out polluting gas power plants in environmental justice communities and replace them with clean energy. Our campaign begins in Los Angeles County. Here, we will train 160 activists to win our campaign in this County and establish a model for California and the US.
Low-income communities of color are most impacted by fossil fuel pollution. They are often excluded from decision making-processes that result in more gas power plants being built in their communities. Close to 120 gas-fired power plants operate in environmental justice communities across California.
Our grassroots-led coalition organizations will provide a training program to build a base of climate justice leaders in LA’s environmental justice communities, so they have the tools they need for self-determination. This project will expand our grassroots base and build power for an equitable phase-out of fossil fuels in LA and beyond.
Why is this project important to the work of your organization?
Regenerate California builds on a long-standing partnership between our organizations. Together, we led the fight to move LA to commit to stopping new gas plant proposals and transitioning to 100% clean energy. Regenerate California puts frontline communities at the center of a new effort to phase out dirty gas plants and replace them with 100% clean energy. We aim to retire the existing gas fleet, starting with the dirtiest plants in LA’s environmental justice communities.
We know the utilities and the decision-makers, and we have won big and small energy campaigns. Together, our organizations combine powerful capacities in technical energy expertise, community organizing, movement building, policy advocacy, and communications. All of these are needed to win.
Our organizations represent 35,000 Californians living in communities of color that suffer the brunt of the fossil fuel economy. These communities must lead the movement for energy democracy and local control of power.
Approximately how many people will be impacted by this proposal?
Direct Impact: 160
Indirect Impact: 10,160,000
Please describe the broader impact of your proposal.
Our project has a broad reach and great potential outcomes. An equitable transition from gas to clean energy is the key step to realize a 100% clean energy future in LA. Success here will offer a climate roadmap for others to follow, as when LA phased out coal power and converted to electric buses. By winning this campaign, we will make LA a healthier city and create a model for the state and nation.
Regenerate California will prove that a community-led, grassroots campaign can achieve climate justice victories at scale. Perhaps most critically, our program is a durable investment in community capacity to build power for change in LA for years to come, for climate justice and for any other issue that arises in the community.
Please explain how you will define and measure success for your project.
Regenerate California builds on a longstanding partnership between our organizations. Together, we led the fight to move LA to commit to stopping new gas plant proposals and transitioning to 100% clean energy. Regenerate California puts frontline communities at the center of a new effort to phase out existing dirty gas plants and replace them with 100% clean energy. We aim to retire the existing gas fleet, starting with the dirtiest plants in LA’s environmental justice communities.
We know the utilities and the decision-makers, and we have won big and small energy campaigns. Together, our organizations combine powerful capacities in technical energy expertise, community organizing, movement building, policy advocacy, and communications. All of these are needed to win.
Our organizations represent 35,000 Californians living in communities of color that suffer the brunt of the fossil fuel economy. These communities must lead the movement for energy democracy and local control of power.
Which of the LIVE metrics will your submission impact?
Air quality
Renewable energy use
Resilient communities
Which of LA2050’s resources will be of the most value to you?
Access to the LA2050 community
Communications support