The Building Industry Association of Southern California (BIASC) has formally announced its opposition to California Governor Gavin Newsom’s proposed climate goals for 2030 and 2045.
“Governor Newsom’s recently announced new set of climate goals present a significant threat to the homebuilding industry and collective effort to help the tens of thousands of people who want to buy a home in California,” said BIASC CEO Jeff Montejano. “While the homebuilding industry supports reasonable and realistic laws to protect our environment, the new climate goals are both unrealistic and unachievable.”
If approved, the new set of climate goals would result in the equivalent of adding a minimum of $50,000 to the price of every home in California. In addition, NIMBY (Not In My Backyard) opponents will use the new mandates to delay, deny, or block desperately needed housing projects. It will also make it impossible for local municipalities to achieve their state-required RHNA housing goals, including the overall state goal of 2.5 million new homes over the next eight-year RHNA cycle
The California Environmental Quality Act requires Greenhouse Gas emission goals, policies, and plans adopted at the statewide level to apply to projects. Although they are proposed as far-off aspirational goals for housing, these mandates become immediate starting in 2023.
Due to the extremely negative effect that the proposed climate goals will have on the effort to end California’s housing crisis, BIASC strongly urges Governor Newsom to withdraw his current proposal and work with the homebuilding industry in crafting aggressive but achievable environmental standards for new development and housing.