Where SF mayoral candidates stand on climate

As they jockey to respond to voters’ concerns over public safety, distrust in city government, and fears over The City’s economic instability, candidates on the mayoral campaign trail have dedicated little bandwidth to discussing climate policy.

But whoever wins this tightly contested race for mayor will be tasked with shepherding The City towards its ambitious — and expensive — climate goals.

The City’s 2021 Climate Action Plan calls for billions of dollars of investment in efforts such as electrifying old buildings and expanding public-transit access. The next mayor will be held accountable to its promises — or abandon them.

Given the lack of attention climate policy has received thus far in the race, The Examiner reached out to each of the prominent mayoral candidates with a simple set of questions to gauge their interest and experience in combating climate change.

The following questions and answers have been lightly edited for brevity and clarity.

How can The City continue to invest in mitigating climate change while balancing its budget, particularly given our current projected deficits?

Mayor London Breed: Environmental investments go hand in hand with the solutions required to address most, if not all, of our city’s challenges. That’s exactly what my Climate Action Plan showcases. Meeting our housing goals is an environmental imperative. Reliable public transit as a low-carbon transportation option is another example. I’m fully committed to ensuring that a balanced budget doesn’t mean choosing the environment over all else, or vice versa.

City departments are also leveraging state and federal funds to advance our environmental goals. This week, for example, we announced a $2.1 million grant from CalRecycle to support the city’s zero-waste and food-security programs. Since 2023, the Environment Department has won $45.8 million in grant funding to continue implementing the Climate Action Plan, including building decarbonization, EV charging accessibility and environmental justice.

Mark Farrell, former mayor: Climate change is the biggest threat to humanity, and San Francisco is no exception. From rising sea levels, increasing heat waves, drought and record-breaking storms, the future of our city and families is at stake.

We know that investments in climate action policies and projects can help drive cost savings in the short and long term, so we can’t let up on the gas.

As the longest-serving budget chair in city history and the only candidate with significant private-sector experience, I will dig deep within our budget to eliminate waste, identify efficiencies, redirect resources toward top priorities and make smart investments for the future of San Francisco.

Daniel Lurie, co-founder of the nonprofit Tipping Point: Short-sightedness has harmed San Francisco for far too long. Investment in climate resilience and decarbonization actually saves money in the long term. We must revitalize The City and increase tax revenue by rapidly accelerating housing construction and creating a safe, welcoming city for new businesses and residents.

I will also collaborate with regional, state and federal governments to bring in more funding for local climate strategies. I’ve spent my career bringing stakeholders together to marshal resources toward solving big problems and will do the same thing as mayor.

With the right approach, leadership, and accountability, we will change the system, restore faith in City Hall and lead the fight against climate change.

Supervisor Aaron Peskin: Given current budget constraints, San Francisco needs to mainstream climate adaptation and mitigation into every city action rather than address these as standalone issues. We continue to make investments in San Francisco’s future every day, and my focus on coordination between currently segmented and siloed department operations will ensure that our climate goals are centered in every step we take toward our city’s recovery and future prosperity.

Supervisor Ahsha Safai: When it comes to climate change, the facts are clear: The cost of inaction far outweighs the cost of action. We must adapt to a changing world. This is already in motion — we’ve partnered with the Army Corp of Engineers on a long-term plan to adapt our city’s shoreline to sea-level rise. Advancing this work is imperative not only to maintaining a vibrant economy, but also to our city’s commitment to equity. Sea-level rise disproportionately impacts historically marginalized communities, and we must center these communities in our response and ensure they are protected.

I also believe that our investments can and should include investments in climate technology and research. Under my leadership, I will work to make San Francisco the world’s hub of ingenuity on climate tech — this approach would ensure our work on climate not only mitigates economic losses but actually drives economic growth.

As mayor, how would you work to ensure The City reaches the goals laid out in the 2021 Climate Action Plan?

Breed: The 2021 Climate Action Plan was released by my administration. The plan’s bold carbon-reduction goals were only made possible because of the city’s clean-energy program, CleanPowerSF, which I championed as a supervisor. Had it not been for the progress made in our city’s clean-energy portfolio, which now serves more than 385,000 customers, San Francisco would not be the global environmental leader it is today.

As a mayor with one of the strongest environmental track records in San Francisco’s history, I’m committed to the continued implementation of the Climate Action Plan. This includes the necessary investments and policies to ensure progress is made on the 174 strategies encompassed in the plan. I’ve announced The City’s first owned and operated Street Tree Nursery, passed legislation to advance EV-charging accessibility and allocated nearly $2 million in community grants specifically to support the plan’s implementation, to name a few.

My administration is also working to address single-use plastics, explore EV curbside charging, and further decarbonization of the city’s buildings and transportation sectors.

Farrell: San Francisco must continue to lead by example and do everything in our power to meet our climate action goals.

As mayor, I will turbocharge the installation of more electrical charging infrastructure citywide through public-private partnerships. My housing platform will meet our local and state-mandated goals and add more density near our major regional-transit hubs. There has not been a bigger champion for our open spaces in San Francisco, and I will continue to aggressively protect and create new open spaces for our families, residents and visitors to enjoy.

Lurie: Plans without implementation are meaningless. We need to reform the way City Hall functions to bring accountability, collaboration, and transparency so we can meet the pivotal moment we face in climate change.

This is an “all hands on deck” effort that requires us to bring people together, stop petty political infighting and execute on a vision from top to bottom that includes prioritizing building more convenient public electric-vehicle charging stations; incentivizing clean- and green-tech industries and jobs to start, grow and stay here; maximizing decarbonization efforts through a safe, reliable transit system and vibrant, walkable neighborhoods; leveraging the unprecedented federal dollars available for clean energy through the Inflation Reduction Act and Bipartisan Infrastructure Act; streamlining the permit process for installing residential electric vehicle charging stations; and cutting red tape to make it easier for residents to upgrade leaky windows and replace gas appliances.

Peskin: We need to catch up on the goals laid out in our Climate Action Plan. As mayor, I would spearhead creative and better-coordinated use of federal funds from the Inflation Reduction Act. Last year, I coauthored a resolution calling for this to aid The City in its recovery. However, the current mayor refused to sign the legislation. We need stronger coordination across all levels of government, and more efficient use of federal and state funding is crucial to helping us achieve our climate goals.

I also recognize that our city’s emissions are inextricably linked to land use and development decisions, gentrification and inequality. I’ve secured billions of dollars for affordable-housing developments and small businesses, ensuring people can live in the neighborhoods they work in instead of commuting dozens of miles daily. Ensuring more middle-income and affordable housing is a priority for protecting our planet and our community.

Safai: I supported the Climate Action Plan as supervisor, and as mayor, I will prioritize and ensure its execution by safeguarding climate programs from budget cuts and implementing a robust management and oversight structure.

The plan is a well-developed roadmap toward a sustainable future, yet I am concerned about the current administration’s lack of effective management in achieving its goals. For instance, the plan aims for 100% renewable energy by 2025, yet we’re falling behind that goal due to inadequate oversight.

To reverse this, I plan to hold monthly meetings at minimum with department heads to ensure we develop realistic, month-by-month goals and plans to achieve them. I also will engage in regular dialogue with climate and business leaders so we’re able to mobilize every sector towards our shared goal of a sustainable future.

What have you done, personally or professionally, to benefit our climate?

Breed: Since my tenure on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, I have championed groundbreaking environmental legislation that has secured the city’s position as a global environmental leader.

As supervisor, I passed the strongest Styrofoam ban in the country and legislation to create the city’s first prescription-drug take-back program. The success of these initiatives continues to be felt today. As of this year, San Francisco has diverted about 140,000 pounds of prescription drugs from being dumped improperly into landfills, the bay and the ocean since the program’s inception. I also spearheaded San Francisco’s community choice public power program, CleanPowerSF, which now serves renewable, affordable and accessible energy to more than 385,000 customers across San Francisco.

Building on the environmental wins from my time on the board, in 2021, I released the updated 2021 Climate Action Plan to achieve a bold new goal of net-zero carbon emissions by 2040. Uniquely embedded in this plan is a framework that centers social and racial equity to address the disproportionate impacts of climate change on The City’s vulnerable populations and ensure environmental benefits to all residents.

Farrell: As mayor, I led the charge for San Francisco’s commitment to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions in alignment with the Paris Climate Accord. My budget provided funding to plant 2,000 new trees across the city to improve our urban canopy and further reduce emissions.

As supervisor, I relaunched GreenFinance SF to provide homeowners with affordable options to install renewable energy and water efficiency upgrades to their homes. I have supported the approval of tens of thousands of new infill-development housing units and new bike and pedestrian safety projects, and I have consistently backed increased funding for our public transportation system locally and regionally to continue to have San Francisco do our part to reduce emissions.

Lurie: Climate change has always been a personal priority for my family and me. Like many San Franciscans, I bike as often as I can and take Muni a couple of times a week. We were also early adopters of all-electric vehicles. However, my greatest impact has been through my work investing in low-income families to help them remain in San Francisco.

We know people experiencing poverty are disproportionately impacted by climate change and have fewer resources to recover from its effects. My career has been squarely aimed at increasing the resilience of low-income households through fighting poverty. The organization I founded, Tipping Point Communities, has made more than $500 million in investments in these efforts in the Bay Area.

I believe the most significant contribution I can make is through policy, as mayor, to make San Francisco a global leader in climate policy and to invest in housing construction so that more people can live in and reinvigorate our great city.

Peskin: I am a lifelong environmentalist who has helped conserve thousands of acres of wilderness and continue to run a non-profit that secures water rights for Native Americans. Additionally, I served on the Coastal Commission and supported the Seawall Program to create a more sustainable and resilient waterfront. I have fought to protect and enhance California’s coast and ocean for today and future generations and will continue to do so as your mayor.

Safai: I’ve taken significant action as supervisor to benefit our climate. One initiative I’m proud of is the planting of over 3,000 trees in my district to increase our tree canopy (San Francisco has one of the smallest tree canopies in the country), mitigate the urban heat-island effect, and bolster our city’s climate resilience. I aim to plant over 100,000 trees citywide under my mayoral tenure while ensuring equitable distribution across the city.

Additionally, I’ve authored legislation to bolster compliance with San Francisco’s recycling and composting mandates, driving significant increases in sustainable waste management practices citywide. I’ve dedicated substantial time to comprehensively understanding how we can achieve all our climate action goals. I plan to take action and reduce solid waste generation by at least 15% by 2030 and slash the amount of solid waste disposed of by incineration or landfill by at least 50% below 2015 levels.