Climate Action, Energy, and Environment

Addressing climate change is the greatest imperative of our time. The stakes are enormous for our environment, our economy, and our planet. Confronting climate change will require major investments in infrastructure, new technologies, well-paying jobs, and energy independence. Pursuing these projects will not only make progress on climate change- they will also make our country stronger, healthier, and more prosperous. As the Ranking Member of the House Natural Resources Committee, these priorities are front and center in all my work for California’s Second District.

Thankfully, California has already taken bold steps to combat climate change, proving that climate leadership and economic prosperity can go hand in hand. I have worked on these issues since my time in the state legislature and am committed to advancing many of our proven California strategies at the federal level and doing even more.

Democrats and Former President Joe Biden had two major victories for climate action in the 117th Congress: the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), and the Infrastructure Investments and Jobs Act (IIJA). The IRAis by far the most ambitious climate and clean energy legislation in U.S. history, with $370 billion for building a clean energy economy, cutting consumer energy costs, combating the climate crisis, advancing environmental justice, and enhancing climate resilience. This law also leans in on ensuring communities are prepared for climate impacts already here, by funding coastal resilience, drought mitigation, and tools to help communities make science-backed decisions. The IIJA delivers record support for upgrading the power grid to transmit more clean energy and withstand extreme weather, building a nationwide network of electric vehicle chargers, expanding public transit and passenger rail, investing in drought and wildfire preparedness, and cleaning up legacy pollution.

Starting in the 119th Congress, I have served as the Ranking Member on the House Natural Resources Committee, which is the honor of my career. In this position, I have pushed to protect public lands, oppose deregulation, invest in and lower the barrier for clean energy projects, and further conservation efforts.

Plastics: 

We are in the midst of a plastic pollution crisis that is fueling climate change and worsening environmental injustice. Petrochemical, plastic production, and waste incineration facilities, which are disproportionately located in or near low-wealth communities, release harmful air and water pollution that cause increased incidences of asthma, cancers, endocrine disruption, developmental disorders, and heart disease. Transitioning off fossil fuels only to replace that demand with more fossil-based plastic production is not a sustainable solution and will continue to perpetuate existing climate and environmental justice harms.

I joined Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island and Jeff Merkley of Oregon in urging Secretary of State Marco Rubio to advance an ambitious agreement that reduces plastic production, phases out chemicals of concern and problematic and avoidable uses of plastics across the full life cycle. Senator Merkley and I also led a bicameral group of 50 lawmakers to sound the alarm over a review by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that paves the way to eliminate Clean Air Act protections for chemical recycling processes. We demanded less reliance on single-use plastic and improved mechanical recycling to reduce plastic waste. I supported a provision in the Water Resources and Development Act (WRDA) of 2024, which has stipulations to help reduce the release of microplastics into the environment.

I have introduced several comprehensive bills to confront the plastic pollution crisis at its source. The Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act would reduce unnecessary single-use plastics, require producers to help manage the waste their products create, and strengthen protections against plastic waste entering our waterways and food chains. I also lead the Protecting Communities from Plastics Act to address the public-health, climate, and environmental justice harms caused by the rapid expansion of petrochemical and plastic-production facilities. Together, these bills would begin shifting responsibility for plastic pollution away from consumers and local governments and back to the corporations that produce and profit from it.

Cryptocurrency: 

Cryptomining facilities not only undermine our efforts to fight the climate crisis, but can also create air, waste, and other pollution for nearby communities. Granting this industry impunity to inflict such environment harm runs counter to numerous federal policies, including accelerating energy efficiency, tackling the climate crisis, and reducing e-waste. 

That’s why I have led the charge with Senator Elizabeth Warren to push for oversight into cryptocurrency’s environmental and energy impacts, particularly on communities near crypto mining operations. We’ve gathered a coalition of congressional colleagues to call on EPA Administrator Michael Regan to evaluate these facilities’ compliance with the Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act, sent letters to OSTP, EPA, and DOE to share our findings on cryptomining’s environmental impacts, and worked to uncover exactly how much crypto is impacting energy consumption, emissions, and costs for Texans. Additionally, Senator Ed Markey and I teamed up to introduce The Crypto-Asset Environmental Transparency Act to require cryptomining facilities to report their carbon dioxide emissions under the Clean Air Act, as well as require a detailed interagency study on crypto’s environmental impacts – taking the first step to pull the curtain back on this industry. 

Environment and Natural Resources: 

Across the country, the irresponsible exploitation of our natural resources endangers the climate, tribal communities, and local economies. America’s public lands, waters, and wildlife are part of our shared natural heritage. As Ranking Member of the House Natural Resources Committee, I am leading efforts to defend these resources from the Trump administration’s attempts to expand drilling, mining, and logging; weaken environmental review and public participation; dismantle science-based protections; and give corporate polluters billions of dollars in sweetheart deals. I have also fought cuts to the federal scientists, land managers, park employees, and wildland firefighters responsible for protecting these places and keeping communities safe.

Since joining Congress, I have championed local public lands protections through the Northwest California Wilderness, Recreation, and Working Forests Act. This bill would protect more than 300,000 acres of public lands, restore forests and watersheds, safeguard hundreds of miles of wild and scenic rivers, improve wildfire resilience, and expand outdoor recreation opportunities. The legislation reflects years of collaboration with Tribes, local governments, conservationists, scientists, recreation groups, and timber and restoration interests across Northwest California. I am also fighting the Trump administration’s efforts to repeal the Roadless Rule, which has protected nearly 60 million acres of national forest from destructive roadbuilding and industrial logging for more than two decades.

Nationally, I have led the fight to stop the destructive Pebble Mine proposal in Bristol Bay, Alaska, permanently protect the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge from fossil fuel exploration, and prohibit new offshore drilling along the Pacific Coast. Invasive oil and gas extraction is an existential threat to Indigenous communities and endangered wildlife, prompting me to introduce the Arctic Refuge Protection Act, which would repeal the Arctic drilling program and permanently protect the refuge’s Coastal Plain to safeguard these ecosystems from destruction.