What were the top tracks of 2025?
While federal climate leadership wavered, California and the Bay Area turned up the volume—passing some of the most significant housing legislation in state history, bringing salmon home to rivers blocked for over a century, and proving renewables can power our future.
Greenbelt Alliance’s Climate Action Wrapped highlights the wins that prove local action hits different. Here’s your playlist:
In 2025, the Bay Area and California have:
- Made housing near hundreds of transit stops possible statewide
- Brought 7,700+ salmon home to 400 miles of reopened river habitat
- Reached a global milestone: renewables generated more electricity than coal for the first time ever
- Put $10 billion in climate bond funding to work (Prop 4)
- Coordinated regional sea level rise response across nine Bay Area counties
- Proven wildfire mitigation can cut damage in half
Your #1 Track: SB 79 (The Housing Near Transit Act)
Artist: California Legislature ft. Senator Scott Wiener, Greenbelt Alliance, CA YIMBY, Streets For All, Abundant Housing Los Angeles, SPUR, Bay Area Council, and Inner City Law Center
What SB 79 Does: California just legalized housing near major public transit stops—ending decades of restrictions that forced sprawl development and increased car dependence. The bill establishes state zoning standards that allow mid-rise housing within a half-mile of train stations and bus rapid transit stops.
The details:
- Allows mid-rise housing (5-9 stories) within a half-mile of major transit stops statewide
- Higher buildings are allowed closer to stations; lower heights further away
- Projects must include affordable housing and meet environmental standards
- Transit agencies can develop the land they own
Why It Matters: Housing near transit reduces vehicle miles traveled, cuts greenhouse gas emissions, and makes public transit financially viable. SB 79 helps tackle both the housing and climate crises simultaneously—proving they’re not competing priorities.
By directing growth to existing infrastructure rather than sprawling into greenbelts and farmland, SB 79 protects open space while creating homes where people actually need them. Combined with the recent AB 130 CEQA reform (which streamlines infill housing projects), SB 79 makes 2025 one of the most significant years for pro-housing, pro-climate policies in California history.
Track #2: Klamath River Restoration – Salmon Come Home
Breakthrough artist of 2025
Led by: Yurok, Karuk, and Klamath Tribes
Featuring: World’s largest dam removal project
Partners: California Trout, NOAA Fisheries, Oregon, and California wildlife agencies.
Over 7,700 Chinook salmon returned to the Upper Klamath Basin in fall 2024—traveling to habitat they hadn’t accessed in over 100 years. Four major dams were removed between 2023-2024, reopening more than 400 miles of historic salmon habitat.
After a year:
- 7,700+ salmon passed through the former Iron Gate Dam site
- 588 fish per day during peak migration
- Water temperatures returned to natural patterns
- Harmful algal blooms nearly eliminated (previous 58% of samples exceeded health limits)
- Salmon so robust tribal fishermen call them “footballs”
“The speed and scale of the river’s recovery have exceeded our expectations and even the most optimistic scientific modeling,” said Barry McCovey Jr., Director of the Yurok Tribal Fisheries Department.
The Klamath restoration shows what’s possible when we remove barriers and center indigenous knowledge. For the Yurok, Karuk, and Klamath Tribes, salmon aren’t just wildlife; they’re also central to cultural identity, food sovereignty, and spiritual practice.
The work isn’t over: Spring Chinook populations remain critically endangered, with only a few hundred wild fish remaining. But the newly accessible habitat offers real hope for recovery.
Track #3: Renewables Overtake Coal Globally
For the first time, renewable energy sources generated more of the global electricity mix than coal. Renewables reached 34.3% of global generation while coal fell to 33.1% in the first half of 2025.
California’s role:
- 30,000+ MW of new clean energy and storage capacity added since 2019
- Coal is virtually eliminated from the state’s power supply
- Solar provided 32% of total electricity generation in 2024
- 40,000 MW of total solar capacity statewide
- Nation-leading battery storage deployment
Why it matters: For years, critics have argued THAT renewables couldn’t provide reliable baseload power. The data now proves otherwise. Solar and wind, supported by battery storage and grid integration, are meeting demand growth globally while displacing fossil fuels. Clean energy is cheaper to build than to run existing fossil fuel plants.
California is a part of a global shift that’s picking up speed.
Track #4: Bay Area Coordinated Response to Sea Level Rise
Regional Resilience
The Bay Area’s shoreline, stretching more than 400 miles around the Bay, faces a defining climate threat: rising seas. The region needs an estimated $110 billion to protect communities, infrastructure, and natural habitats from flooding by 2050. And the most vulnerable communities—often lower-income neighborhoods built on fill or in historic flood zones—face the greatest risk.
Already, the king tides flood streets in the Canal neighborhood of San Rafael, Alameda, East Palo Alto, and the waterfront areas of San Francisco. Airports, wastewater treatment plants, highways, and thousands of homes sit in zones that will experience regular flooding as seas rise.
Rather than tackle this crisis city by city, the Bay Area is building the first coordinated, regional response to sea level rise in the nation.
- Rising Together: The Bay Adapt Summit: The second annual summit brought together practitioners, scientists, and advocates to showcase regional adaptation progress. Presented by BCDC in partnership with the Exploratorium and Greenbelt Alliance.
- Regional Shoreline Adaptation Plan: Released in December 2024, BCDC’s Regional Shoreline Adaptation Plan (RSAP) provides the first comprehensive framework for the nine Bay Area counties to coordinate their response. The plan sets guidelines for local jurisdictions, prioritizes vulnerable communities, and positions the region to compete more effectively for federal and state funding.
- On the Ground: From the Solano Bayshore Resiliency projects to nature-based solutions along the Oakland-Alameda shoreline, communities aren’t waiting. Local governments and community organizations are testing new approaches, building living shorelines, and preparing for what’s coming.
Sea level rise doesn’t respect jurisdictional boundaries. This coordination framework ensures agencies, cities, and counties work together and that no community gets left behind.
Track #5: Wildfire Resilience
Released: November 2025
Partners: Sonoma County Ag + Open Space, Sonoma Ecology Center, Pepperwood Preserve
Greenbelt Alliance released a new report introducing a model for wildfire risk-reduction strategy: the Interwoven Greenbelt Buffer, which weaves together non-contiguous lands (irrigated farms, vineyards, grasslands, and woodlands) to create a protective buffer around communities in fire-prone areas.
Traditional greenbelt buffers require purchasing contiguous public land, which is often cost-prohibitive and infeasible. Instead, this approach strategically connects existing lands that already act as buffers with coordinated management across zones—the result: heightened wildfire protection, collaborative governance, and fewer resources.
With 1 in 8 Californians living in the two most dangerous fire zones and insurance companies fleeing the state, this 20-month pilot project in Sonoma Springs provides a blueprint for other fire-prone communities across the Western US.
From research to local policy action, the Bay Area is showing what proactive wildfire preparedness can look like when we prioritize resilience. We don’t want to wait for the next fire; we want to build communities that can withstand them.
Track #6: Prop 4 - $10 Billion Climate Bond
Funding the Future
In November 2024, California voters said YES to Proposition 4 with 58% of the vote–the largest investment and most significant financial commitment in the state’s history to address the climate crisis. The $10 billion climate bond became available in 2025, providing communities across California with the resources to fight climate hazards like flooding, droughts, and wildfires.
Where the Money Goes:
- $3.8 billion for safe drinking water and drought protection
- $1.5 billion for wildfire prevention
- $1.2 billion to protect natural lands, restore forests, and preserve wildlife habitats
- $1.2 billion for coastal resilience and sea level rise, including wetland restoration
- $850 million for clean energy infrastructure
- $700 million for parks and green spaces in urban areas
- $450 million to protect communities from extreme heat
- $300 million to support farms in water conservation and soil health
In 2025, the Bay Area received $102 million from Prop 4—$62 million for coastal resilience projects and $40 million for Bay restoration and conservancy—critical funding as two-thirds of California’s sea level rise impacts will hit the Bay Area.
Why It Matters:
Prop 4 represents a shift from reactive disaster response to proactive climate preparedness. Rather than paying billions to clean up after floods and fires, California is investing in nature-based solutions—wetlands that buffer storm surges, forests that prevent catastrophic wildfires, and green infrastructure that keeps cities cooler and absorbs stormwater.
Year after year, Californians rank addressing climate impacts as one of the state’s most critical needs. Prop 4 gives the state tools to build resilience now, funding projects that protect communities, restore ecosystems, and create jobs, all while working toward ambitious goals like conserving 30% of California’s lands and waters by 2030. Greenbelt supported Prop 4 because climate resilience isn’t optional; it’s how we protect the lands and communities we depend on.
The playlist continues in 2026 🎵
2025 proved that local and state climate action works. While federal leadership faltered, California led, passing transformative legislation, restoring ecosystems, and building clean energy infrastructure.
But these wins are starting points, not finish lines. SB 79 needs strong implementation. Klamath salmon need continued restoration support. Sea level rise adaptation requires sustained investment and engagement. And wildfire resilience demands both innovation and action.
The 2026 playlist is already starting. Greenbelt Alliance will be here: fighting for climate-SMART development, protecting greenbelts, and collaborating with resilient communities. We’ll keep building coalitions, advocating for policy, and proving that local action can change the trajectory of the climate crisis.
Want to help write next year’s tracks?
