Building a Green Economy

We can build a Green Economy. China, Germany and other nations are investing heavily in renewable energy sources and energy efficiency technology. These nations are harvesting the fruits of their foresight: the green jobs of the future. Janice believes that we must compete. When Janice was in Washington for President Obama’s State of the Union address, she saw the President call this our generation’s “Sputnik moment,” a time when America should rise to the challenge and be a leader of innovation and growth.

Janice has a proven record in this area. In the Port of LA, Janice proved that environmental protection and job creation can go hand-in-hand. Janice and her colleagues worked to develop Port Tech LA, a new clean technology incubator that leverages the Port’s environmental efforts to create additional green businesses in the harbor area. Janice, along with her colleagues also began a $15 million clean technology investment fund. The fund has encouraged technologies as diverse as hybrid electric tugboats, electric flywheels on container cranes and diesel particulate traps on the smokestacks of cargo ships.

This fund’s first investment was in Balqon Electric Trucks, a company that makes the world’s first electric truck capable of hauling a fully loaded shipping container. Balqon moved their manufacturing to the Harbor area as a result. The company’s CEO recently hosted an event for Janice and told her that they received their first order from China, and that they will be hiring 150 new workers to manufacture the electric drive systems, right here in Harbor City. Thanks to the clean technology fund, we will soon be exporting these innovative trucks globally.

Improving Fuel Efficiency Standards

Janice has long supported, and will continue to support, greater fuel efficiency standards – and she will continue to aggressively protect California’s exemption to set its own emission standards, be they for criteria pollutants or greenhouse gasses.

Renewable Energy

In this years State of the Union address, President Obama suggested a goal of, “by 2035, 80 percent of America’s electricity will come from clean energy sources.” Here in California, we’re on the path to 33% renewables by 2020. Janice supports the Presidents goal and when she goes to Congress, she wants to join him in fighting for his renewable energy goal for our nation.

Of course, there will be bumps along the road. Most renewable energy is intermittent, and the output from solar and wind varies hour by hour. That’s why Janice believes that we need to make investments to produce baseload renewable energy from geothermal and biomass. She wants understands that we need to put research dollars into economically harvesting energy from wave and tidal activity, and perfecting energy storage technologies.

One great renewable experiment, which Janice championed, is taking place in her Council District. On Terminal Island, the Bureau of Sanitation is disposing of waste a mile below the seabed and using the pressure of the earth to produce methane gas that is used to create electricity. The result of the project is that CO2 is locked in the earth, baseload energy is created and we no longer drive hundreds of miles to dump our waste in the Central Valley. This innovative approach could be a winner for Los Angeles, and the nation, dramatically reducing our contribution of greenhouse gases.
The Port of Los Angeles has 10 megawatts of solar energy planned and in production due to Janice’s support. Janice plans to bring more than just a theoretical support of renewable energy but hard won, on-the-ground experience in producing clean energy.

Nuclear Power

Janice believes it is essential that we reevaluate American interests in nuclear power. Once we were told that off-shore oil drilling is safe. The BP disaster in the Gulf last year proved it isn’t. We were also told nuclear energy is safe, but events in Japan have shown that it may not always be the safest energy route. Janice is confident that California’s tradition of innovation should lead the way to oil and energy independence. Investments and innovation should focus on what we have in California, like wind and solar. Making sure that our power sources are clean, safe, and renewable is crucial for the future of California and the United States