This is only the second time in two decades that the Department of the Environment has received money from the general fund. But while the $2.6 million represents a win for environmental groups, the amount is well below the $11 million many had hoped for.
After months of rancorous debate over how San Francisco would invest in its response to climate change, the Board of Supervisors approved $2.6 million for the Department of Environment to begin enacting The City’s climate action plan late Monday night.
“We appreciate this first step toward what needs to be done,” said Sara Greenwald, an organizer with the environmental nonprofit 350 San Francisco, “but The City is starting late, and much more is needed.” But both city leaders and advocates say that a refusal to adequately fund the department tasked to oversee and implement the Climate Action Plan could imperil San Francisco’s ability to meet its net-zero goal by the 2040 deadline.