Energy & Environment

We have a responsibility to ensure that this country is preparing for a safe, reliable and secure energy future. Overreliance on a limited range of fuel technologies, foreign sources of energy, and finite resources is unreasonable. We cannot drill our way out of our energy problems; we only have two percent of the world’s proven oil reserves but we use about 20 percent of the world’s oil.

Our strength will lie in our ability to transition to new, cleaner, more sustainable resources. And we must recognize the impact that our energy choices have on public health and the global environment, now and far into the future.

I am working to encourage innovation in the field of renewable energy and energy conservation. Addressing the climate crisis is imperative for our national security, the ecosystems that feed us, our public health and safety, and our future economic well-being.

We also must work hard to protect our environment and be good stewards of our land, air, and water; I help protect our environment close to home as an advisory member of the Tri-Valley Conservancy.

What I am Doing for You

In the 116th Congress, my colleagues and I passed H.R. 9, the Climate Action Now Act of which I am a co-sponsor. This legislation would prevent the use of federal funds in withdrawing the United States from the Paris Climate Accords and would require the president to annually publish the Administration’s plan to meet the standards agreed to under the Accords. Despite the president’s repeated efforts to restrict public awareness of the climate crisis, we must be vigilant and fully transparent about our level of preparation for an uncertain future.

I also introduced H.R.4481, the Securing Energy Critical Elements and American Jobs Act, to help the United States develop the technical expertise and production capabilities to assure a long-term, secure and sustainable supply of energy critical elements (ECEs). If we want to keep leading the world in technological advancement and create more American jobs, we must secure these energy critical elements and their production.

I'm an original co-sponsor of H.R. 279, the California Clean Coast Act of 2019, which would permanently ban future offshore oil and gas leasing in areas of the Outer Continental Shelf off the coast of California.

I’m also a co-sponsor of H.R. 3135, the Department of Energy National Labs Jobs ACCESS Act. This bipartisan bill would provide $5 million over five years to support apprenticeships in partnership with national laboratories.

To combat the ecological destruction close to home, I co-sponsored H.R. 1132, the San Francisco Bay Restoration Act, which would authorize $25 million over five years for wetlands restoration and conservation in the Bay Area. (I also co-sponsored this as H.R. 843 in the 113th Congress.)

Along with colleagues on both sides of the aisle, I co-sponsored the Udall-Eisenhower Arctic Wilderness Act. This bipartisan bill would designate as wilderness the 1.5 million-acre Coastal Plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge on the north coast of Alaska, codifying into law permanent protections from damaging activities like oil drilling.

I am a co-sponsor of the bipartisan Department of Energy Research and Innovation Act, a bipartisan bill providing policy direction to the Department of Energy (DOE) on basic science research, nuclear energy research and development (R&D), research coordination and priorities, and reforms to streamline national lab management.

I pushed to protect clean air and water by co-sponsoring the Land and Water Conservation Fund Reauthorization and Fairness Act, a bipartisan bill to permanently reauthorize the Land and Water Conservation Fund.

I have led two letters to Department of Energy Secretary Rick Perry in support of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and Sandia National Laboratories as potential candidates for the Department of Energy’s new Energy-Water Desalination Hub. The eventual team chosen as the Hub will research improvements to desalination technology and increase energy efficiency, continuing our community’s legacy of leadership in sustainable infrastructure.