Back Home (My Final Post from Copenhagen)

Home now. Just missed the eastern storms which left many of my colleagues stranded.

On the flight home, I met a climate modeler formerly with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory who had just joined with other scientists to form a new non-profit. The purpose of his new organization is to let us, the public, know how climate change is impacting us right now. His research shows that California's increase in wildfires is directly traceable to climate change and that we should expect this wildfire trend to continue. Our state's water resources are also affected. Global warming is not just a concern of the future!

I’ve made a note to invite him to an informational hearing of the Natural Resources Committee that I chair. The Tuesday before I left (Dec 8), I convened a Natural Resources Committee hearing with energy experts and business leaders who testified that AB 32, California’s Global Warming Solutions Act, is helping California's economic recovery. UC Berkeley Professor Dan Kammen provided data on how venture capital investment in clean tech and green job growth have skyrocketed since the passage of AB 32.

Ricky Hanna, President and CEO of Electric Vehicles International moved his company's operations from Mexico to take advantage of California’s policies. Mr. Hanna told us "California is where our customers are and where we need to be to maximize the deployment of zero emission trucks, buses, port equipment, and other vehicles that substantially reduce greenhouse gas emissions and help achieve clean air.”

Next 10 and Collaborative Economics issued a groundbreaking study, ‘Many Shades of Green: Diversity and Distribution of California’s Green Jobs,’ showing that the fastest growing segment of California’s economy is in green jobs.

California has never been so well poised to be at the competitive edge of the low carbon economy. I'm proud California is leading the way. Even in these difficult times, we will continue to push ahead, because we know our leadership on clean energy and clean tech is not only the right thing to do environmentally, it's also the key to accelerating our economic recovery.