MALT Supports California’s Prop 4, the Climate Resilience Bond on the November, 2024 Ballot
The Marin Agricultural Land Trust (MALT) strongly supports California’s Proposition 4, titled “Safe Drinking Water, Wildfire Prevention, and Protecting Communities and Natural Lands From Climate Risks.”
The statewide $10 billion bond measure, if passed, would build climate resilience through strategic investments in clean water, funding to protect against wildfire, sea level rise, flooding and extreme heat, drought, and investments in our farms and natural lands for the benefit of all Californians.
MALT believes in long term investments in agriculture as part of an inclusive strategy to build local and global climate resilience. Proposition 4 is the single largest investment in protecting the environment and responding to the challenges of climate change in the history of California.
As we have seen here firsthand in Marin, farmers and ranchers are on the front lines of the impact of climate change. As weather patterns and climate trends continue to shift and become less predictable, farmers and ranchers in Marin County—and throughout California—face longer heat waves, increased drought, frequent flooding, and prolonged fire seasons.
Proposition 4 has the potential to make transformational climate-resilient investments in farm and ranch operations, local food systems, and the people who work on farms to bring us healthy and nutritious food.
Funding from Prop 4 would help advance MALT’s strategic pillars of work: Preserving Agriculture, Protecting Biodiversity, Building Climate Resilience, and Connecting Our Community.
Specifically, this bond would invest:
- $385 million in climate resilient, sustainable agriculture such as building soil health, increasing water efficiency, protecting farmland from development, and improving land access for beginning and historically underserved farmers.
- $1.2 billion for biodiversity to meet the state’s 30×30, public access, and climate resilience goals.
- $90 million in local food systems such as year-round farmers market infrastructure, urban agriculture, mobile markets, programs for Tribes to grow and distribute food that reflect Indigenous culture and traditions, and farmer equipment-sharing programs.
- $635 million for farmworker health and well-being such as clean and safe drinking water, housing, and a vanpool program
More broadly, Proposition 4 prioritizes funding for underserved communities, requiring 40% of the funding go to vulnerable and disadvantaged communities who are most at risk to climate change impacts.
In Marin, MALT has demonstrated how strategic investments in sustainable agriculture can make a difference by having:
- permanently protected nearly 59,000 acres of local farmland,
- improved drought resilience through investing nearly $829,363 in 70 water infrastructure projects, and
- growing a portfolio of small grants to farmers to build climate resilience and protect biodiversity on their lands.
While MALT continues to do its part locally, climate change is a public crisis that also demands a public response. Proposition 4 meets this challenge head on.
We urge you to vote Yes on Proposition 4 this November.