The California state of mind means something real to me - sun, sand, oak studded tawny hills, crashing waves and lots of people from lots of places with lots of big ideas. It's a great place to work on environmental and public health protection because the people here really have your back. Time and again, Californians show they care about these issues -- where they live, how they live, the quality of the air they breathe and the water they drink. And don't even think about getting elected out here if you don't have a solid environmental record. All this enthusiasm means there are many moving parts and many players eager to make a difference. I spend a lot of my timing working with all these folks, trying to steer a course to effective environmental and public health reform.
Posted January 9, 2013 by Annie Notthoff in Environmental Justice, Living Sustainably
What California does makes a difference. When President Obama increased national mileage standards last year, he built on the pioneering work that Senator Fran Pavley started here in 2002. We dream big, we take big steps and when it comes...continued→
Posted October 10, 2012 by Annie Notthoff in Solving Global Warming
Next month California’s landmark climate program is set to take another big step with the launch of its first auction. It’s time for industrial polluters to stop fighting this six-years-in-the-making program and instead join the hundreds of businesses investing in...continued→
Posted October 4, 2012 by Annie Notthoff in Living Sustainably
When NRDC released its new sustainable communities report last week with Move LA, we were optimistic that California Governor Jerry Brown would continue his long record of supporting good planning and economic development by signing SB 1156, the Sustainable Communities Investment...continued→
Posted June 11, 2012 by Annie Notthoff in Reviving the World's Oceans
At the end of last week, California, once again, did something no other state in the country had done before – our California Fish and Game Commission voted 3 to 0 to complete a science-based statewide network of marine reserves....continued→
Posted May 9, 2012 by Annie Notthoff in Green Enterprise, Saving Wildlife and Wild Places, Solving Global Warming
Solar energy development is booming in California and across the Southwest. On public lands alone seven utility-scale solar projects totaling a little more than 23,000 acres of public lands have been permitted in the California desert since 2010, and there...continued→
Posted April 3, 2012 by Annie Notthoff in Reviving the World's Oceans
Last week we celebrated Oceans Day here in California's capitol. Governor Brown, who signed the Coastal Act in to law in 1976, joined several of us to mark the occasion. He and Julie Packard of the Monterey Bay Aquarium and...continued→
Posted August 15, 2011 by Annie Notthoff in Saving Wildlife and Wild Places
Stillwater Cove, Monterey County Looking out at the waves of Monterey Bay, with sand between my toes and the summer coastal fog wrapping me in its arms, I once again feel lucky to be a Californian. One big reason...continued→
Posted July 8, 2011 by Annie Notthoff in Curbing Pollution, Solving Global Warming
On Monday, the House of Representatives is expected to vote on a measure to repeal federal lighting efficiency standards that benefit consumers by requiring that the common light bulbs we use in our homes use about 30% less energy. These...continued→
Posted March 18, 2011 by Annie Notthoff in The Media and the Environment
If you ride public transportation, have children in public school or have visited state parks recently, you know that budget cuts over the past several years have seriously harmed these and many other services on which Californians rely. This year,...continued→
Posted January 6, 2011 by Annie Notthoff in Living Sustainably, Saving Wildlife and Wild Places
I’ve been lucky enough to know and work with John Laird ever since he was a Santa Cruz city councilman and we first joined forces with then Congressman Leon Panetta and US Senator Pete Wilson to protect California’s coastal environment...continued→
Posted December 10, 2010 by Annie Notthoff in Curbing Pollution
I arrived here in Cancun earlier this week directly from the annual Green California Summit, a gathering of dozens of environmental, public health, labor, businesses, advocacy organizations and many others who are working together to address and find solutions to...continued→
Posted November 14, 2010 by Annie Notthoff in Solving Global Warming
As the Democratic daughter of a Republican father, I know firsthand that political parties don't matter when it comes to family. And the coalition that came together to defeat Proposition 23 in California was a bipartisan breath of fresh air....continued→
Posted November 1, 2010 by Annie Notthoff in Curbing Pollution, Health and the Environment, Moving Beyond Oil, Solving Global Warming, U.S. Law and Policy
This has been an especially contentious and polarizing election season, and little room has been left for reasoned discourse. Any common ground, it seems, has subsided beneath the waves of stridency, fear and anger. But things aren’t always as they...continued→
Posted October 26, 2010 by Annie Notthoff in Curbing Pollution, Health and the Environment, Living Sustainably, Moving Beyond Oil, Saving Wildlife and Wild Places, Solving Global Warming
I’m counting down the days to the November 2 election and reminding my friends and family of what is at stake regarding what’s on the ballot this year. There are several propositions on California’s ballot NRDC has taken positions on...continued→
Posted October 1, 2010 by Annie Notthoff in Curbing Pollution
The thermometer at the National Weather Service’s Los Angeles office hit 113 degrees on Monday – and then it broke. This record-breaking heat conforms to a larger trend. A recent State of the Climate report, compiled by more than 300...continued→
Switchboard is the staff blog of the Natural Resources Defense Council, the nation’s most effective environmental group. For more about our work, including in-depth policy documents, action alerts and ways you can contribute, visit NRDC.org.
