Support San Francisco Environment Department SFE Funding
Call your Mayor
Call ONE of the Supervisors. Note: only one of these Supervisors represents you. Find out which one here.
Call Script
Supervisor__________ /Mayor Lurie: In this year’s budget, I am asking that $1.6 million be allocated from the city's General Fund to help sustain the San Francisco Environment Department. This department uses its allocation to bring in more revenues to fund its climate justice projects; cutting it makes no sense.
THE ASK: Call Your Supervisor: SF Must Fully Fund the SFE: It Generates a Massive Return on Investment for Climate Action
CONTEXT AND BACKGROUND
San Francisco’s Environment Department (SFE) is charged with implementing the city’s ambitious Climate Action Plan, and yet its share of the city budget is a few tenths of a percent. For years it got nothing from the city’s General Fund—no wonder our streets are still clogged with gas cars, so many of our buildings still burn methane, and most of our trash goes to landfill.
Mayor Lurie is planning to drastically reduce the amount SFE receives from the General Fund; the $1.5 million it currently receives per year would shrink to $904,000 in FY 2025-26, and then $601,000 in FY 2026-27. SFE’s current funding supports five full-time staff who bring in and manage grant money for work on climate change prevention; cutting that funding means these employees lose their jobs. SFE has received less than $5 million from the General Fund over the past three years, and with that money, has brought $85M in revenues to the city, a massive return on a tiny investment. Indivisible SF signed a letter from the Climate Emergency Coalition opposing these cuts, asking that the investment be spared so SFE can keep funding the staff positions.
One of the grants started the city's Climate Equity Hub. It pulls together city departments and community-based organizations to help homeowners in lower-income neighborhoods find money and professional help to replace climate-damaging 'natural' gas power with clean electricity. CEC is asking that an additional $0.1M be added to fund staff for the Hub, or at the very least that the Hub's funding not be cut in future years.
WHAT WE CAN DO TO FIGHT BACK:
The Community needs to be involved in a transparent budget process. The Mayor will be releasing his budget in the next week or two. The Board of Supervisors will then make recommendations to the Mayor. We must tell both the Mayor and the Board that cuts to a program that generates a massive return on investment for climate action make no sense.