Combat the Climate Crisis

I serve on the House Natural Resources Committee because I understand the urgent need to protect our planet and deliver clean energy investments to California. I’ve confronted Big Oil CEOs directly about efforts to mislead the public, and I’ve fought to raise fees on polluters that hadn’t been updated in decades.

One of the most fiscally responsible things we can do is take bold, urgent action to reduce carbon emissions and protect all communities from the climate crisis. Weather and climate-related disasters intensified by climate change, including wildfires and floods, cost taxpayers $145 billion in 2021 alone. This price will only go up the longer we wait to take bold action.

I’m sick and tired of Washington politicians selling our futures to the highest bidders, including Big Oil and other polluters. I’m the only person in this race who’s never taken corporate PAC money, refuses federal lobbyist money, and won’t take money from executives from Big Oil or Wall Street banks. These pledges are reflected in my fights to hold polluters accountable. We need to end Big Oil’s dominance in Washington and move toward a clean energy economy that doesn’t leave anyone behind.

Invest in Clean Energy

Whoever dominates the renewable energy space today will have tomorrow’s most robust economy. Clean energy has the potential to unlock thousands of good-paying jobs in construction, manufacturing, research, education, and more. I support continued investments in clean energy and efforts to empower workers and communities as we push boldly toward clean energy and away from fossil fuels.

Hold Polluters Accountable

California deserves a Senator who will hold polluters accountable. I’m not afraid to stand up to Big Oil companies, as I’ve repeatedly demanded answers from their CEOs on everything from greenwashing to their greedy demands to drill on even more public land and water. I’ve also written legislation that’s been signed into law to raise fees on polluters, and I’m backing legislation that would better protect taxpayers from cleaning up messes abandoned by polluters and finally eliminate unfair tax breaks. For too long, polluters have bought and paid for their own rules, relying on elected officials for their legislative dirty work. But no more. We must end this cozy relationship and send elected officials to DC with the backbone to stand up to greedy polluters, especially those that target historically disadvantaged communities.

Prioritize Disaster Preparedness and Community Resiliency

We need to protect communities and our larger economy by taking bold action and investing in making communities more resilient. And I mean every community, especially our most vulnerable and those that have historically been left behind. In addition to providing federal resources to boost climate resiliency, we should crack down on greedy insurers who needlessly drop victims of natural disasters instead of providing coverage and work to create a stable, solvent, and competitive insurance marketplace. We also need to streamline research on natural disasters and make that information available to all levels of government. Right now, there’s no agency responsible for creating a 360-degree, public review of disasters – including how they happened, how we could have prevented them, and how we can protect communities moving forward. I’m fighting to change that. I’m also leading efforts to better support our firefighting workforce through improved pay and benefits and to extend a critical water conservation program that helps provide reliable, clean water to Californians.

Invest in Mass Transit

Transportation is the single most significant contributor to climate change. We cannot tackle the climate crisis without changing our outdated transportation system, including by investing in more mass transit, biking networks, and walking networks. I’m glad California is slated to receive more than $10.3 billion over the next five years from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to improve public transit across the state. Still, we have to verify those investments are actually made — and that they’re made safely and efficiently. In addition to performing robust oversight of how these federal dollars are spent, I’m pushing for additional resources to continue bolstering our state’s public transit infrastructure.