Top Priorities
Standing up for Central Coast Values
Central Coast values mean standing up to those who want to exploit and undermine our unique way of life for their own benefit, not ours. While the federal government continues to trample our rights and freedoms – and attempts to roll back our progress fighting climate change – we must stand and fight back.
Protecting our democracy starts right here at home. As your next county Supervisor, I’ll continue to stand against the Trump White House and their Big Oil patrons. I’ll fight to protect our coastline from their efforts to dismantle marine sanctuaries, reverse course in fighting climate change, and their efforts to restart offshore oil drilling. This feels to me like a relentless, never-ending struggle, and I’m ready to pick up the fight in defense of the values we hold dear.
Leading the Fight Against Big Oil
Today, the Trump Administration – once again – has targeted our offshore waters for oil and gas exploration and drilling, which could end up as close as three miles off our coast. I vehemently oppose this, as do most District 2 residents. Just as bad, now Trump’s Big Oil patrons are trying to open some 122,500 acres of onshore land in SLO County to oil and gas development.
Weaning our economy from carbon-intense, fossil-based energy, fighting climate change and decarbonizing our electric grid must be a priority for all elected officials. Big Oil continues to pollute our air, threaten our coastlines and profit at the expense of our climate, health and wellbeing. This simply must change. I’m up for the challenge.
I firmly believe that the use of fossil fuels has created a climate crisis. The world is electrifying in response, especially here in California, reducing climate-harming carbon resulting from the continued use of fossil fuels to meet our ever-increasing energy demands. As your next Supervisor, I will intensify our fight for decarbonization and support renewable-energy projects that reduce our fossil-fuel dependence.
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Regarding Offshore Wind
Although offshore wind is not a county regulatory issue, if developed in the right places with the right safeguards, it offers a cleaner, more sustainable path forward – one that shrinks our carbon footprint and supports a greener economy.
If these projects are ever developed – and that’s a big if – we must continue rigorous safety and environmental regulations and monitoring to ensure they’re advanced responsibly, with respect for marine life, coastal ecosystems and cultural heritage. Clean energy and environmental protection can – and must – go hand in hand.
A quick note on battery storage systems (BESS): The citizens of Morro Bay voted resoundingly against the BESS project proposed by Vistra Corp. for the Morro Bay Project site. I respect the will of the voters, and would not support a battery storage project at the former Morro Bay Power Plant.
Yet, I support battery storage technologies, but only if they’re wisely planned, sited and built using the very latest, proven science. Given what we’ve learned from Vistra’s Moss Landing fire, battery storage projects must be appropriately located and regulated to ensure up-to-date safety measures are incorporated into every aspect of design through final build. Every project must adhere to these hard-learned best practices, but not in Morro, given what voters have definitively stated.
I’m very concerned about the existential climate change crisis threatening our world, and I worry for us today and for future generations. That’s why I believe zero-carbon energy must replace fossil-based power production. Battery storage is an essential ingredient of that – so long as we require it to be developed under the best-practices conditions.
Creating Jobs and Making the Central Coast More Affordable
As we continue to transition away from Big Oil and towards green energy projects, we must ensure that the jobs and economic activity benefit SLO County residents.
We also must confront the reality that rising housing costs are pushing SLO County’s next generations out of the very communities they grew up in. If we want future generations to stay and raise their families here – and if we want our neighbors to be able to retire and stay here – we must do more to address our affordable housing crisis.
We can build affordable housing that supports our workers, teachers, first responders and families who want to make SLO County their home. We can create an economic future with good-paying jobs that let families build their lives here for generations.
We can do all that while protecting and preserving the natural spaces that give us the quality of life that makes this place so special.