Correspondence Item 22 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Flores, Dora From:Ayn Craciun <ayn@climateactioncampaign.org> Sent:Monday, June 16, 2025 4:41 PM To:eComment; Penaloza, David; Phan, Thai; Bacerra, Phil; Vazquez, Benjamin; Lopez, Jessie; Hernandez, Johnathan; Saba, Nabil; Amezcua, Valerie Subject:OPPOSE Agenda Item #22 a Resolution Opposing Clean Air for Santa Ana Attention: This email originated from outside of City of Santa Ana. Use caution when opening attachments or links. June 16, 2025 Santa Ana City Council 20 Civic Center Plaza Santa Ana, CA 92701 eComment@santa-ana.org RE: OPPOSE Agenda Item #22 a Resolution Opposing Clean Air for Santa Ana Members of the Santa Ana City Council, On behalf of Climate Action Campaign and thousands of Santa Ana children and families who, according to the American Lung Association, have suffered with the worst air pollution in the nation for decades, I urge you to vote NO on agenda item 22. This item would have the council oppose clean air for residents – a reversal of the city’s commitments to environmental justice embedded in its General Plan. One of the largest sources of ozone pollution in Santa Ana is fossil fuel appliances in homes, which would have been significantly reduced by South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) Rules 1111 and 1121. These rules would regulate gas furnaces and water heaters—some of the largest sources of nitrogen oxide (NOx) pollution in Southern California homes—and represent a vital public health intervention to reduce asthma, heart disease, and other respiratory illnesses, while also saving low income families thousands of dollars on installation costs and monthly energy bills. Sadly, on June 6, 2025, SCAQMD voted against adopting these rules, the result of a concerted misinformation campaign led by the gas industry to preserve its monopoly profits and delay action on life-saving air quality improvements. Despite this vote, the facts remain clear: Santa Ana communities would disproportionately benefit from policies like Rules 1111 and 1121. The city ranks among the most pollution-burdened in the South Coast region, according to CalEnviroScreen, and Santa Ana residents shoulder an outsized share of the health impacts—and millions in healthcare costs—caused by gas appliances. There’s another critical reason to support this transition: households that remain on the gas system will face rising utility bills as more residents switch to all-electric appliances. A 2024 study projects that gas infrastructure costs will increasingly be borne by a shrinking customer base, resulting in natural gas bills rising by up to 46% over the next 15 years for those who do not transition. Also, California’s Equitable Building Decarbonization Program will fully fund the replacement of gas appliances for low-income Santa Ana households, helping families transition off the polluting gas system at no cost, while improving indoor air quality and reducing monthly utility bills. That program is set to launch in Santa Ana this year. 1