California Senate District 13, which stretches from South San Francisco to Sunnyvale, is one of the world’s foremost centers of innovation. We are also a district that faces disaster if climate change is allowed to continue unchecked. The local cost of inaction includes flooding along our Bayshore and coast; wildfires, smoke and power shut-offs throughout the state, and droughts and heat that impact people and nature. San Mateo County alone stands to lose $34 billion in property values, 34 schools, and 30,000 homes.
Our Peninsula communities, which gave the world lasers, microprocessors and open-heart surgery, must now lead the world forward on climate change. Blessed as we are with more than our share of the world’s financial, intellectual, and creative capital, we have an urgent responsibility to lead the world forward on climate change. Few places so precisely intersect urgent necessity and proven capacity for invention.
Several weeks ago, I released a comprehensive plan to combat climate change, which was the product of a months-long collaborative process between my campaign and 75 local and national climate leaders, from Massachusetts Sen. Ed Markey to legendary San Mateo County environmentalist Lennie Roberts. The plan calls for: achieving carbon neutrality in state agencies by 2030, the greening of our transportation system, a green civilian conservation corps, aggressive energy targets for new buildings, and incentives to develop and deploy technologies and natural systems to remove carbon from the atmosphere.
My plan includes creating a multi-million-dollar prize for outstanding innovations in climate science. This isn’t simply a question of adjusting profit margins and helping with startup costs; the goal is to create a prize with real prestige to make California an active partner in cutting edge climate research, and to save our own communities from the worst effects of climate change.
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory just issued a report outlining how California can achieve carbon neutrality by 2045 by taking actions that also reduce wildfire risk, clean our air and water and bring investments throughout the state. The report outlined the technology and policy innovations that are needed to achieve these goals, including incentivizing some of the negative emissions technologies and natural practices I have included in my plan. While well-researched reports are necessary, they alone are not sufficient to solve our crisis.
Addressing the climate crisis will require cooperation between all sectors of the economy and corners of the world. As Californians we can help create the incentives and organizing principles for addressing climate change globally. For decades we set the American standards for emission and changed the way cars were produced nationwide. Our words and actions exert tremendous moral and economic gravity. Sacramento has plenty of Democrats that are “good votes” on climate change. That is not enough. The San Francisco Peninsula can and should be the number one climate innovation leader in the world. Our next state senator must be able to bring forth our best ideas, galvanize our full capacity for invention and innovation, and provide climate leadership.
I’m a collaborator and problem solver and have worked for decades with Gov. Gavin Newsom and his environmental team. That is one of the reasons that Newsom and current state Sen. Jerry Hill are supporting me in this race. I am passionate about solving climate change and working with local leaders in the Bay Area to bring our best solutions to Sacramento. Climate change is our greatest existential challenge, but it could provide our area with a real opportunity to lead not only California, but also the world, into a more livable future.
Josh Becker is a candidate for State Senate District 13, which ranges from South San Francisco to Sunnyvale. Daniel Yost contributed and is a lawyer who counsels climate innovators and served as mayor of Woodside.
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