Alternative Energy, Sustainability & The Environment

By Stacey Lawson

Northern California's coast is a natural treasure and lifeline for local economies, supporting fishing, tourism, recreation and almost 400,000 related jobs. That's why Stacey will fight from day one in Congress to prevent offshore drilling along our Pacific coastline.

Californians, like most Americans agree that clean, safe water must be a top environmental priority. Stacey is committed to ensuring the Clean Water Act provides protection to our waters, including wetlands and small streams, and continues to provide Americans with drinkable, fishable and swimmable water. Stacey will fight to pass Senator Boxer's and Senator Feinstein's efforts to modify the boundaries of the Gulf of the Farallones and Cordell Bank in order to protect those ecological and maritime resources. And Stacey will work to support federal and state efforts to protect our local fisheries and promote the recovery of salmon populations.

For the last 10 years, Stacey has worked at the intersection of environmental stewardship, entrepreneurship and education. As an educator and technology entrepreneur, she has supported initiatives in areas from solar energy equipment to green retrofitting services to electric vehicles. Stacey co-founded the Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology at UC Berkeley, where she has helped launch small businesses that are growing California's lead in green technology and renewable energy.

Stacey knows we can stem climate change and make significant progress on many of our top environmental priorities, by moving America away from carbon-based fuels. In Making More in America, Stacey describes how we can move America to a cleaner energy future, and create high-wage, middle class jobs by making our own energy again. Reducing energy consumption and spurring green-collar jobs through building retrofits could create up to $21 billion in savings annually. Creating a next-generation smart energy grid will allow us to release the power of wind energy, and finally create a full infrastructure for plug-in electric vehicles. And by making sure that the federal government takes the lead on switching to more energy efficient models of production and consumption we can save the environment and taxpayers' money.

As part of Stacey's commitment to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels through investments in green technology and renewable energy, she supports federal efforts to accelerate local transit systems' conversion to hybrid bus fleets and alternative fuel vehicles. Through smart investments in improving transportation, we can create jobs, spur smarter growth policies, and promote sustainable infrastructure, all while reaping environmental benefits. Locally, this includes supporting federal funding for SMART and pushing for high-speed rail. And while not directly considered a transportation investment, building out our digital infrastructure (California's North Coast has particular challenges here) will enable more people to telecommute, taking cars off the road and reducing our carbon footprint.

Finally, Northern California is home to many beautiful national, state and regional parks. With over 70 million visits annually, California's parks are an important economic engine for local communities, generating over $4 billion in economic activity across the state. Stacey will work with our state leaders to preserve funding for these local treasures.

We need to solve our tough environmental problems, not run away from them. Politicians can say they're for protecting the environment, for smart planning, and for job creation + when it is easy. It's when things get hard that we see where people really stand. Stacey won't back down from the tough fights. She has been a strong advocate for environmental stewardship and sustainable innovation, and will fight to protect the environment while creating sustainable, green jobs.