Protect Your Climate Fund: How You Benefit from California’s GGRF — and Why It’s Under Threat

Quick Summary: How the GGRF Works & What’s At Risk

California gets investments funded by major polluters via auction proceeds from Cap-and-Invest, deposited into the GGRF, supporting statewide programs through California Climate Investments.

Since 2014, the GGRF has funded programs that, according to the 2025 California Climate Investments Annual Report:

• • Conserved and restored 1.6 million acres of land
  • Contracted 13,600+ affordable housing units
  • Saved Californians $30 billion in travel costs
  • Issued 560,000+ rebates for electric cars and clean energy appliances
  • Invested in wildfire prevention, forest health, and prescribed burning
  • 73% of investments benefitting priority populations
  • Are projected to reduce air pollution by 116.1 million metric tons 

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) that manages Cap-and-Invest, which funds the GGRF, recently voted through an oil-backed proposal that slashes billions of dollars from the state budget in a time when costs are higher than ever across the state and guts key GGRF-funded climate programs that everyday Californians rely on. (Alex Nieves, Politico)

What is the GGRF & How Does It Benefit Me?

Think of the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF) as California’s climate fund: money raised from the Cap‑and‑Invest system is deposited into the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, then distributed to programs that deliver public benefits.

Here’s what that can mean for you and your neighbors:

• • Cleaner air and healthier neighborhoods: California Climate Investments are designed to deliver economic, environmental, and public health benefits, including meaningful benefits for disadvantaged and low‑income communities.
  • Real projects you can point to: California’s reporting tracks implemented projects and outcomes, showing how funds translate into on-the-ground improvements statewide.
  • Climate progress with scale: Implemented projects are expected to reduce greenhouse gas emissions over their lifetimes, reflecting concrete climate returns from community investments.

Here are just a few programs funded by Cap-and-Invest and the GGRF that you might have benefitted from:

• • Automatic energy bill credits through the California Climate Credit that has put $16 billion in bill refunds back in California households’ pockets. (Governor Gavin Newsom – Press Release)
  • Clean transportation solutions like electric school buses, zero-emission delivery vehicles, and rebates for electric cars and plug-in hybrid cars. (California Climate Investments and California Air Resources Board)
  • Micro mobility projects like rebates for electric bikes (e-bikes). (California Air Resources Board)
  • Clean, secure, and affordable drinking water in communities and Tribal governments across California. (California Climate Investments)
  • Rebates and increased access for heat pumps in residential communities to make these electric, clean A/C and water heater units easy and affordable to install. (TECH Clean California)

Public health benefits from reduced exposure to pollutants because of GGRF investments show health care benefits valued at $15.3 billion, notably:

• • 257,920 avoided asthma symptom cases in children (California Climate Investments)
  • 164,343 avoided work loss days (California Climate Investments)

And the benefits are broad and statewide. California Climate Investments span 117 programs administered by 27 agencies, which is why so many communities across the state feel the effects, from transportation to resilience to housing-related investments. (California Climate Investments)

Why This Funding Is Under Threat Right Now

In May 2026, CARB finished  a formal rulemaking process to update the Cap‑and‑Invest Regulation (formerly Cap‑and‑Trade). The California Air Resources Board (CARB) passed updates to the program that undermine Cap-and-Invest, cut corners to benefit the oil and gas industry, compromise our climate progress, and erase billions of dollars in revenue. (Alex Nieves, Politico)

The CARB Board Meeting lasted two full days, with hundreds of commenters from around the state joining in to make the case that this program must be preserved. Transit authorities, local governments, public interest groups, and community members all showed up to speak to the benefits this program has yielded over the past years and why losing these dollars and progress on climate would be so detrimental. The regulation was ultimately passed, but not without this pushback, and not without comments from board members that spoke to the dire impacts California communities will face due to this watered-down program change.

For more than a decade, Cap-and-Invest has been one of California’s most cost-effective climate tools. This program sets limits on emissions from major polluters and funds the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF) that supports communities in the transition to clean energy, builds climate resilience, and expands access to affordable housing and public transportation.

The changes that the CARB Board passed will undermine Cap-and-Invest’s performance and significantly reduce billions of dollars funding to the GGRF that flows into climate investments. 

In short: When the rules tilt toward polluter-friendly loopholes, everyday Californians risk losing out on the benefits the GGRF helps fund.

Sources & Further Reading

California Climate Investments (CCI). (2024). California Climate Investments Annual Reports: Funding Implemented Since 2014. State of California.
https://www.caclimateinvestments.ca.gov

California Air Resources Board (CARB). (n.d.). California Climate Investments (CCI) Resources Fact Sheet: Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund and Program Implementation. California Environmental Protection Agency.
https://ww2.arb.ca.gov

California Air Resources Board (CARB). (2026). Cap‑and‑Invest Program Rulemaking: Public Comment Deadline Extension. California Environmental Protection Agency.
https://ww2.arb.ca.gov

California Air Resources Board (CARB). (2026). Notice of Public Hearing: Cap‑and‑Invest Program Board Hearing (May 28, 2026). California Environmental Protection Agency.
https://content.govdelivery.com

EnviroVoters. (n.d.). Cap‑and‑Trade: How California’s Climate Program Works.
https://envirovoters.org/blog-cap-and-trade/

EnviroVoters. (n.d.). The Solution to Wildfires Is More Fire.
https://envirovoters.org/the-solution-to-wildfires-is-more-fire/

Office of Governor Gavin Newsom. (April 15, 2026). Governor Newsom Delivers $520 Million in Utility Bill Relief to Millions of Californians. State of California.
https://www.gov.ca.gov/2026/04/15/governor-newsom-delivers-520-million-in-utility-bill-relief-to-millions-of-californians-with-more-coming-this-summer/

California Air Resources Board (CARB). (n.d.). Clean Cars 4 All Program Fact Sheet. California Environmental Protection Agency.
https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/resources/fact-sheets/clean-cars-4-all

California Air Resources Board (CARB). (n.d.). California E‑Bike Incentive Project. California Environmental Protection Agency.
https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/our-work/programs/california-e-bike-incentive-project

California Climate Investments (CCI). (n.d.). Safer Drinking Water Program. State of California.
https://www.caclimateinvestments.ca.gov/safer-drinking-water

TechClean California. (n.d.). TechClean California: Market Transformation for Clean Energy Technologies.
https://techcleanca.com