Sylvia (she/they) is a Senior Fellow/Strategist on federal policies and financing. Her role is to further policy innovation, foster peer-learning, and help to build greater policy capacity for BIPOC-Frontline groups. Sylvia Chi is an attorney and climate/environmental justice policy expert based in Oakland. She previously served as Policy Director for Asian Pacific Environmental Network, and before that, was Independent Counsel with Verdant Law, advising on chemical regulatory and green marketing compliance. She has also worked with the International Refugee Assistance Project, Environmental Law Institute, U.S. EPA, and United States Senate. She currently leads on policy advocacy and implementation for the California Public Banking Alliance and was a principal co-author of AB 857 (2019), establishing a licensing framework for public banks in California. She earned her J.D. from the University of Maryland School of Law and A.B. from Dartmouth College.
Climate justice is inextricably linked with economic justice, and individual and household economic precarity is increasingly important in the context of the climate crisis. As in so many other aspects […]
As climate disasters increase in frequency and severity, the workforce performing cleanup and restoration largely consists of migrant workers, who are frequently exposed to hazards like mold, asbestos, and lead, and may also be vulnerable to labor exploitation and wage theft.
Among the various uncapped energy tax credits that form the core of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), none has been more heavily contested than 45V, the hydrogen production tax credit. […]
On July 27, the Department of Energy released long-awaited guidance for the Home Energy Rebate Programs, outlining requirements applicable to the states and territories that will administer these programs. (Separate […]
With last year’s passage of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), Congress took its most significant action yet to address climate through legislation. As we have previously discussed, the majority of […]
The $27 billion Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF) is the single largest climate program in the Inflation Reduction Act, second only to the suite of energy tax credits that make […]
After the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) was enacted in August 2022, our analysis found that many supporters’ claims about how it would advance environmental and climate justice were overstated. Because Congress was […]
The Inflation Reduction Act, passed in August, marked the biggest climate action ever passed by Congress, with tax incentives accounting for the majority of the bill’s spending commitments. Totaling an […]
The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), lauded as the biggest climate change legislation in the history of the United States, passed the U.S. Senate on August 7, 2022 and was signed […]
Historic climate investments, big giveaways to industry, environmental justice priorities short-changed. Primary Author: Sylvia Chi, Senior Strategist The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) passed the U.S. Senate on August 7, 2022 and […]
On June 30, the last day of its 2022 term, the United States Supreme Court released its much-anticipated decision in West Virginia v. EPA, the high-profile federal climate change case. […]
On April 14, the White House announced the release of Equity Action Plans developed by nearly all federal agencies. These Equity Action Plans were created in response to the President’s […]
Yesterday, President Biden signed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (“IIJA”), marking a major achievement for both the Biden Administration and the usually-gridlocked Congress. The IIJA makes critical investments in […]
