Letter from Sacramento: Inspiration For Voting

I love it when politicians that Sierra Club California endorsed meet expectations.

Controller Betty Yee and Attorney General Xavier Becerra make me want to stand up and cheer nearly weekly.

They aren’t running for election this year, but I think they deserve attention because they epitomize why it is so important to vote for really solid environmental candidates, no matter what office they are aiming for.

 

 Let’s start with Betty Yee.

When she first ran for controller, her chief rival in the primary was a former assembly speaker who most assumed would be able to glide into the seat. Yee had been on the relatively obscure Board of Equalization and was known as a wonky hard worker. Her rival had an outsized personality, walked and talked like a political insider and had lots of connections.

But his record on the environment was a mixed bag. He was weak on environmental review and oil issues. Yee was no-nonsense about where she stood on the environment: She was opposed to fracking, deeply understood the climate crisis, and intended to take seriously the role a controller can play on a few key commissions to help protect Californians’ health and environment.

We endorsed her. She narrowly won a needed second place in the primary and handily beat a former Fresno mayor in the general election. Then she got to work.

Suffice it to say that she has fulfilled her promise. She has been a savvy force on every board and commission she sits on that touches on environmental issues. The State Lands Commission, on which the controller is one of only three commissioners, is a case in point.

She prodded that entity into the 21st century by establishing its first five-year strategic plan. She invited environmentalists to the table to help craft it, and now, nearly five years later, we can point to oil platforms that have closed for good and public lands that are better managed, thanks to that plan and Yee’s work.

And last month, Yee and her fellow commissioners kicked off a second five-year planning process, again with environmentalists at the table. It’s a wonky process that leads to real progress. It’s the way Yee works and succeeds for the environment.

Then there is Attorney General Becerra. After 12 terms in the U.S. House of Representatives, representing a Los Angeles district, Becerra was tapped by former Governor Jerry Brown in 2016 to serve as attorney general to fill the seat emptied when Kamala Harris was elected to the U.S. Senate.

Becerra had been a solid vote for the environment in Congress. But solid votes in a legislative body don’t always translate to solid work as a constitutional officer.

In this case, though, it has. Almost out of the gate, he began challenging Trump’s federal government on a range of issues, from its suppression of immigrant rights to its abandonment of environmental protection. When Becerra ran for election to the seat in 2018, we endorsed him.

So far, Becerra has filed nearly 70 lawsuits against Trump administration actions. More than half are filed to protect the environment.

Last fall, for instance, when Trump rolled back the federal Endangered Species Act, Becerra jumped in with a challenge to that rollback.

Just days ago, Becerra filed a claim against the Trump administration’s scientifically corrupt biological opinion or so-called “extinction plan” for how much water can be removed from the San Francisco Bay Delta system. 

And as I write this, Becerra is wrapping up a press conference in San Bernardino County where he has announced a suit against the Federal Aviation Administration, the San Bernardino Airport Authority and a private developer for greenlighting a warehouse and cargo plane project without addressing air pollution increases.

If you are registered to vote, a ballot has arrived in your mailbox for the March 3 primary. Becerra and Yee aren’t on the ballot this year, but if you need inspiration, think of them.

A vote for an environmental candidate makes a difference. 

Vote.