David came to this country as a Dreamer at the age of 14 – crossing the border with his sister on his back, as they escaped political turmoil in their native Guatemala. David and his family settled in Southern California, where his mother worked as a janitor, and his father, a carpenter. He learned English in public schools, before earning scholarships to Stanford and Harvard law. As a young man, he came out to his family and friends, and he is now married to his husband of 20 years.
Whether it’s orange skies in San Francisco, fires burning in our hills or California’s punishing droughts, we see the effects of climate change everywhere.
And the science shows — things are getting worse quickly. Climate and weather-related disasters have surged five-fold in the last 50 years, affecting communities across California and beyond.
Fortunately, we have solutions. We know what it will take to reduce emissions and create a healthy California for generations to come. But we need to stop being timid and embrace bold solutions now. Here are mine.
We need to transition to clean renewable energy now. We are waiting too long to require the lower-cost and safer energy from wind, solar and other completely renewable sources. Moving towards this energy not only creates middle-class jobs now, it stabilizes prices so our energy bills don’t keep going up. Here is another dirty little secret the energy companies don’t want you to know – renewable energy is now dramatically less expensive than carbon fuels.
We need to ban fracking now. Fracking releases methane, trapping about 86x more heat in the atmosphere than CO2, pollutes our drinking and wastewater, causes erosion, earthquakes and dangerous sinkholes, and the effects disproportionately impact communities of color, especially indigenous groups. The only way toward a clean, renewable energy future is to ban fracking everywhere, starting in California.
We need to establish a Blue New Deal now. 68.5% of Californians live in coastal areas and have seen the effects of sea-level rise in their backyards. This is why one of my first proposals in the state Assembly will be based around a Blue New Deal involving the end of offshore drilling, the restoration of our coasts, and the investment into a “blue economy” that will create middle-class jobs for Californians.
We need to create a Civilian Fire Corps now. We must utilize indigenous knowledge of forest management to reduce wildfire risk across the state. I propose the creation of a “Civilian Fire Corps,” made up of 1 million Californians making a living wage who are trained and tasked with taking care of our forests and preserves, led by indigenous groups. Nationally, a similar program consists of 20,000 members who have managed to restore 1.73 million acres, plant 1.3 million trees, and build or maintain over 25,000 miles of trails.
These proposals will protect our state for years to come, not to mention the immense costs that we will save in the future by tackling the climate problem now. Natural disasters related to climate change cost us precious lives and, on average, $1 billion each.