Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Defending Our Environment for Future Generations

Getting Tough on Climate Change

• Our public policies must fully recognize that global climate change is real and poses a serious risk to our health, economy, security and environment.
• A carbon tax on polluters can reduce greenhouse gas emissions – while protecting the financial well-being of middle-class and low-income Americans. Proceeds from the tax on carbon should be equitably distributed to the public.
• I oppose "Cap and Trade" approaches that greatly benefit Wall Street banks like Goldman Sachs (a major supporter of Cap and Trade), but fall far short of reducing the carbon emissions needed to stop climate change.
• I support policies that invest in clean and renewable energy to sharply reduce our reliance on fossil fuels.
• For vehicles, I support instating a fuel economy standard that swiftly increases each year based on real-time technological developments.
• I strongly oppose offshore oil drilling.

Alternatives to Nuclear Power

• In my campaign I have advocated closing California’s two nuclear power plants (Diablo Canyon and San Onofre) because they pose major risks to all Californians. The dangers are heightened because both plants are located on major earthquake faults along the coast.
• The ongoing disaster at Japan's Fukushima Daiichi plant demonstrates the real dangers of nuclear power – and underscores the need to quickly transition to safer and truly sustainable energy sources.
• I support public investment in solar, appropriately sited wind, tidal and other energy sources that are clean and renewable – and making such energy affordable and accessible for homeowners and small businesses.

Resisting GMOs and Pesticides

• I support policies to help farmers transition away from pesticides that threaten human health and the environment.
• I support requiring full content disclosure of all products to give consumers the information necessary to make informed choices.
• I will work to require that genetically modified (GMO) seeds and other products be clearly labeled, as is required by the European Union, to give consumers full information.
• I also support strict safeguards that require rigorous independent review and require proof of GMO safety before allowing any GMO products into the marketplace.

Sustainable Food, Agriculture and Fisheries

• I support federal policies that provide incentives for the continuation of small family farming, sustainable agriculture and local waters that can support small fishers.
• I will work to end wasteful subsidies to large-scale corporate farms and enterprises not truly engaged in sustainable farming.
• I support programs that help farmers transition to organic certification – it’s good for our environment, for our health, and for farmers.
• I oppose the heavy-handed influence of huge agribusiness firms and international trawlers in the regulatory policies of the USDA, the FDA and the NMFS (National Marine Fisheries Service). Our food and agriculture agencies should answer to farmers, fishers and consumers, not to corporate lobbyists.
• I will advocate strongly for food and agriculture policies that promote sustainable agriculture while helping consumers access fresh local foods in both urban and rural areas.

Protecting Our Water

• We need to use our water more wisely and effectively. We can proactively focus on conservation and reuse rather than subsidizing runaway waste of water by industries.
• Government should guard against the effects of drought with far-reaching programs that help people conserve, reuse and recycle water in homes, businesses and public institutions.
• Extensive conservation programs merit full support from public agencies. Conservation is preferable to expensive and energy-intensive projects such as desalination, which have a large carbon footprint and provide few jobs.
• I oppose efforts to spend more than $2 billion on a peripheral canal in Central California, which would serve the interests of large corporations and developers as a part of a massive water bond – jeopardizing the environment and squandering vast sums of money that would be better spent on water management and conservation programs.

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