Bill Lockyer ... On the Record for the Environment

By Bill Lockyer

Please visit my website at Lockyer2002.com

During Lockyer's first week as Attorney General, he filed and won a lawsuit to protect Lake Tahoe from MTBE contamination and is working with the Governor to ban MTBE in California.

Lockyer is defending President Clinton's creation of the historic Sequoia National Monument, which is now under attack by the Republican Bush Administration. This new national monument would permanently protect many of California's last remaining Giant Sequoia groves and surrounding ecosystems.

In 1987 Senator Lockyer introduced legislation to create one of the most far-sighted contributions to the San Francisco Bay Area -- the Bay Trail. His plan called for the creation of a 400-mile long hiking and cycling path around San Francisco and San Pablo Bays, funded by a unique partnership of State, regional and local governments and outdoor enthusiasts.

Senator Lockyer supported legislation to restore the Los Angeles River, where feasible, for urban park use.

Senator Lockyer was the first legislator to call for environmentally sound flood control practices through creation of flood management corridors and land use controls in flood plains.

Clean Air and Water

Attorney General Lockyer has been active in the fight to require that adequate water supplies are identified before local government approves new developments. He supported SB 221 (Kuehl) which requires that large-scale developments make a credible showing that there is enough water to supply them before they are approved.

Lockyer supported the federal Environmental Protection Agency's ability to set health-based standards under the Clean Air Act, affirming the principle that clean air is defined by health effects, not economic ones.

Lockyer filed written objections to the Bush Administration's plan to roll back federal Clean Air Act standards applicable to the nation's biggest stationary sources of air pollution: fossil fuel-powered electrical power plants and refineries.

Lockyer is challenging the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's effort to plant hydro-electric power on California streams without proper environmental review.

In 1974 after an oil tanker discharged its contents into the San Francisco Bay, freshman Assembly Member Bill Lockyer wrote a law to provide funding for oil spill decontamination. The strategies that bill funded over 25 years ago have become the standard emergency response to oil spill contamination around the world.

Recycling

Lockyer was an early advocate of recycling efforts. In 1977 he wrote a law to establish a State pilot project for low-technology recycling centers. In 1978 Lockyer introduced a bill that appropriated funding for the recycling of paper in California's schools, and he was an early advocate of the "bottle bill," which required surcharges on packaged beverages to encourage recycling.

Off Shore Oil Drilling

Attorney General Lockyer successfully challenged the Bush Administration's proposed extension of 36 oil and gas leases on the Outer Continental Shelf off the coast of California. The leases otherwise would have expired in November. The federal government and the oil companies have appealed the court's decision, and the litigation is ongoing.

Recognized Leader on Environmental Issues

Bill Lockyer was named the Planning and Conservation League's Legislator of the year in 1995.

Lockyer has been endorsed by the Sierra Club.