{"id":194607,"date":"2026-02-26T10:28:09","date_gmt":"2026-02-26T10:28:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/194607\/"},"modified":"2026-02-26T10:28:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-26T10:28:09","slug":"hundreds-rally-against-proposed-budget-cuts-to-san-franciscos-environment-department","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/194607\/","title":{"rendered":"Hundreds rally against proposed budget cuts to San Francisco’s Environment Department"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hundreds of climate activists filled the steps of San Francisco City Hall on Wednesday to rally against possible funding cuts to the city\u2019s Environment Department.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen climate justice is under attack, what do we do? Stand up fight back!\u201d shouted activists.<\/p>\n

The Environment Department helps formulate and oversee climate goals for the city that promote sustainability, clean energy, and the reduction of pollutants.\u00a0<\/p>\n

For fiscal year 2026 to 2027, Mayor Daniel Lurie has proposed budget cuts to the department that could eliminate positions and several initiatives related to implementing and keeping track of the city\u2019s climate and sustainability goals.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re being told that many of us are at risk of losing our jobs,\u201d said Nicole Appenzeller, who works as the department\u2019s electric vehicle ombudsperson. \u201cYou cannot cut climate staff and reach your climate goals. You cannot slash the workforce and call yourself a climate leader without us.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Lurie\u2019s current budget proposal allocates about $545,000 from the city\u2019s General Fund to the department, a nearly 80% reduction compared to fiscal year 2022 to 2023, when the budget included nearly $3 million from the General Fund.\u00a0<\/p>\n

According to SF Environment Director Tyrone Jue, the proposed cuts would force the department to eliminate eight staffing positions that work on the city\u2019s Climate Action Plan<\/a>, a framework that outlines and monitor\u2019s the city\u2019s work toward reducing pollutants and achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The funding cut would also eliminate the department\u2019s Climate Equity Hub, a program that allows low-income residents to transition from gas to electric home appliances for free.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we don\u2019t fund this work, we are defunding our future,\u201d Appenzeller said. \u201cWe are here to fight for our jobs, but we are also here to fight for clean air, for climate action and for a livable city.\u201d<\/p>\n

The crowd of environmental advocates and labor union leaders held up signs and gave speeches, with supervisors Rafael Mandelman and Jackie Fielder joining the rally to show their support.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur city has collectively set a Climate Action Plan to ensure our communities are not only climate resilient, but also proactive in protecting our planet\u2019s health, safety and ultimately, our ability to thrive,\u201d Fielder said in a speech. \u201cBut now we\u2019re at risk of losing this hard-won progress.\u201d<\/p>\n

If we don\u2019t fund this work, we are defunding our future.<\/p>\n

Nicole Appenzeller, electric vehicle ombudsperson<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

The rally was held just before a Budget and Appropriations Committee meeting, where a hearing on the proposed budget allocations for the Environment Department was held.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Mandelman called for the hearing to learn more about how the proposed cuts would impact the department\u2019s work and how it has been funded historically.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe advocates are unhappy and I\u2019m really concerned,\u201d Mandelman said at the meeting.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Jue explained that funding the department has always been a challenge, and a main source of funding has come from grants.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen the department was first conceived in \u201895 and then actually instituted in \u201896, there wasn\u2019t a clear funding mechanism to fund the department, so folks got creative,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Additionally, the infusion of money to the department in fiscal year 2022 to 2023 was the first-ever major allocation from the city\u2019s General Fund and was primarily done to expand the Climate Action Plan and introduce the Climate Equity Hub<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cHistorically, this department has had to eat what it kills,\u201d Mandelman said. \u201cIt hasn\u2019t been a General Fund priority for the city until rather recently.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Supervisor Jackie Fielder gives speech as climate activists rally against proposed budget cuts to the San Francisco Environment Department on Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026 in San Francisco, Calif. (Alise Maripuu\/Bay City News)<\/p>\n

But with outside funding sources dwindling for the department and grants stalling under the current federal administration, the department is asking to be prioritized in the Lurie\u2019s budget proposals.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIf there\u2019s not a direct problem, unlike what\u2019s in front of you today, you tend not to prioritize,\u201d Jue said. \u201cNow there\u2019s a direct problem that we cannot solve for that we have been able to solve for in the past.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite budget constraints faced by Lurie, Mandelman thinks that his proposal for the Environment Department will demonstrate the extent of his commitment to environmental justice and decarbonization.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the year in which they\u2019re going to have to make a decision about what they think about this and whether they believe that the environment should be a General Fund priority,\u201d Mandelman said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Sophia Kittler, the mayor\u2019s budget director, said that the hearing will help inform the proposal for the department.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would really appreciate your leadership and the leadership of the advocates to kind of bring this forward,\u201d she said to Mandelman. \u201cI think all of these conversations that we can have sooner really shed light on how to think about those priorities and shape the budget before it gets before you in June.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Hundreds of climate activists filled the steps of San Francisco City Hall on Wednesday to rally against possible…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":194608,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[15743,443,76999,643,10208,8717,13133,10118,101,34860,90914,103,102,104,106,105,90915],"class_list":{"0":"post-194607","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-francisco","8":"tag-budget-cuts","9":"tag-climate-change","10":"tag-climate-justice","11":"tag-environment","12":"tag-environmental-impacts","13":"tag-environmental-justice","14":"tag-jackie-fielder","15":"tag-rally","16":"tag-san-francisco","17":"tag-san-francisco-board-of-supervisors","18":"tag-san-francisco-environment-department","19":"tag-san-francisco-headlines","20":"tag-san-francisco-news","21":"tag-sf","22":"tag-sf-headlines","23":"tag-sf-news","24":"tag-supervisor-rafael-mandelman"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/194607","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=194607"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/194607\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/194608"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=194607"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=194607"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=194607"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}