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County pledges to California 'Climate Action Counts' campaign, drawing mixed public reaction
Summary
The board unanimously pledged San Diego County to Governor Newsom’s Climate Action Counts initiative to mobilize volunteer climate action and resilience activities. Supporters cited volunteer fellows and outreach capacity; critics called the campaign tokenism and raised fiscal and sovereignty concerns.
The San Diego County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to pledge the county as a partner in California’s Climate Action Counts campaign, a state initiative designed to mobilize volunteers for climate action, resilience and community engagement.
County staff said the county has already worked with Climate Action Corps fellows on public‑works recycling and is open to expanding collaboration. Supporters on the phone—including representatives of the Governor’s Office of California Volunteers—portrayed the program as an opportunity to reach residents with climate‑resilience actions and to cultivate workforce pathways.
Public commenters were sharply divided. State and county representatives urged the board to join to amplify existing sustainability work, while some callers described the campaign as a costly or coercive expansion of state power and criticized perceived hypocrisy or political theatre. Several speakers raised broader grievances about county priorities during public comment.
Supervisors who sponsored the pledge framed it as a low‑cost partnership to deepen outreach, advance tree planting and disaster readiness, and expand volunteer opportunities. The board voted in favor without dissent.
