Vote no on Prop 45 to Protect California’s environment and public health

By Alice Kaufman and Shani Kleinhaus

This November, California voters will have a chance to push back against President Trump’s attacks on our clean air and water, public health, and open space by voting NO on Proposition 45. This deceptive ballot initiative is a 41-page recipe for pollution and sprawl. It would weaken California’s bedrock environmental law and make it easier to build data centers, warehouses and other polluting projects – with severely limited public oversight.

Voters need look no further than the list of oil companies, for-profit utilities, and developers that are funding Prop 45 to understand who would benefit if this initiative passed. These corporate backers pretend to care about affordability, but the truth is that nothing in Prop 45 actually does anything about affordability. In fact, the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office estimates that Prop 45 could cost taxpayers tens of millions of dollars annually, potentially exceeding $100 million. 

Prop 45 fast-tracks polluting projects

Prop 45 would severely weaken the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) for an incredibly broad list of projects. Just a few examples are freeway expansions, new dams, forest clear-cutting and herbicide spraying, landfill gas facilities and CO2 pipelines. The measure could also potentially be used to fast-track other projects, including warehouses and data centers. All of these projects would have less public input, less regulatory oversight and accountability, and fewer opportunities for communities to protect themselves, their air and water quality, and their environment from the harmful impacts of these projects.

Simply put, Prop 45 is following the Trump administration’s playbook: stifle the voice of the public, fast-track harmful projects on behalf of wealthy corporations, and gut the environmental laws that have protected California for decades. It’s up to California voters to stand up and refuse to be fooled into allowing these corporate special interests to destroy our environment in order to increase their own profits.

Prop 45 won’t make housing less expensive

Don’t be fooled – Prop 45 is not about housing. It contains absolutely no requirements to build affordable housing or to lower housing costs. Most urban infill housing development, including affordable housing, is already exempt from environmental review under a 2025 law (AB 130). So Prop 45 would have little effect on those infill housing projects – but it would clear the way for large sprawl housing projects on open space, farmland and hillside habitat. 

Sprawl housing not only harms our environment, it increases costs for taxpayers by forcing us to subsidize the expense of roads, utilities and police and fire protection for new homes in remote areas – which are frequently luxury homes for the wealthiest among us. And because sprawl housing is often located in high-risk wildfire hazard zones, it results in increased insurance premiums for all Californians. No wonder the California Professional Firefighters,which represents about 38,000 professional firefighters and emergency medical service personnel statewide, opposes Prop. 45.

Prop 45 shifts costs to taxpayers

When corporations pollute, the people pay. We’ve seen this story before in Silicon Valley, where the semiconductor industry left a legacy of Superfund sites that we’re still paying to clean up. Prop 45 would make it easier to build certain projects that could include data centers, warehouses, and other polluting projects in our communities. When air pollution worsens, asthma rates go up and healthcare costs increase. When drinking water is contaminated, it’s the public that pays to clean it up. 

Who’s behind Prop 45?

As the saying goes, follow the money. Prop 45 is paid for by oil companies and corporate developers – including corporations that build data centers and warehouses. These for-profit companies are spending millions of dollars to get Prop 45 passed so they can potentially build polluting projects with less public oversight. 

Who’s opposing Prop 45?

Prop 45 is opposed by a broad coalition of more than 400 organizations, including the California Democratic Party, labor unions, faith organizations, nurses and health organizations, emergency responders, and environmental groups on the local, state, national, and global level.

As environmental advocates, we know all too well how challenging it can be for members of the public to find out about and weigh in on projects in their communities. Let’s face it, the deck is already stacked in favor of corporations – they have lawyers, engineers and consultants ready to go. The rest of us have jobs and lives. We have children and parents to care for. We have to find the documents, understand them, find someone who knows about groundwater or toxic chemicals or wildlife, and somehow make our voices heard before the clock runs out. And now Prop 45 would make that process even more difficult by putting even more barriers in the way of public participation.

With the Trump Administration rolling back protections for clean air, clean water and public lands, it’s more important than ever to defend California’s environmental laws. We urge everyone to join with us and the more than 340 trusted organizations, California nurses, teachers and firefighters, and the California Democratic Party, in voting No on Prop 45 by November 3!

Alice Kaufman is the Policy and Advocacy Director for Green Foothills. Shani Kleinhaus is the Environmental Advocate for the Santa Clara Valley Bird Alliance.