Michael H. Momeni
When we commute by car to our employment a significant distance away, we pay a high price in terms of time away from family, friends and the community. Some of us commute in excess of three hours each day and also put in eight or more hours at work. Our time on congested highways exhausts us, depletes our energy and often robs us of our patience and good humor. When we allow ourselves to think about being away from our families for eleven or more hours a day, five days a week, we might feel resentful but also helpless to change the routine. Moreover, commuting is expensive; the costs of a personal car, fuel, and maintenance can be a large share of our income. However, commuting allows our families to live in better homes and surroundings, so often the trade-offs seem necessary.
At present, many of us have no choice but to use our personal car to commute to a job far distance away. We simply don’t have feasible alternatives.
We must also consider the physiological costs that a polluted environment incurs when cars on our congested highways spew toxic exhaust. These pollutants damage our personal health, including heart, lungs and nervous system. It is a well-documented fact that automobile exhaust is responsible for many medical and psychological diseases we have been experiencing in our modern society. Aaron Reuben’s article, “This is your brain on Smog (July/August 2015, Mother Jones), provides a highly persuasive assertion that pollution contributes to inducing many neurological problems, including dementia. The recent article in Los Angeles Times by Tony Barboza and Jon Schleuss (March 2, 2017) indicates that “L.A. keeps building [dwellings] near freeways, even though living there makes people sick. Are you one of the 2.5 million Southern Californians already living in the pollution zone?”
Sierra Club and Public Transportation:
How can we affect the social transition from a car culture to a mass-transit culture? The elected members of the House and Senate are seldom members of Sierra Club. A majority of the Senators and the Representatives pass legislation demanded by their constituents.
What is the public attitude toward a mass-transit system? Would it be fair to suggest that a large fraction of the public don’t vote and have a minimal interest in any public mass-transit system? To change the present status from a car culture to a public transportation culture would demand a mass public education.
Maybe this education should be initiated at the grade school.
Governor: Gavin Newsom. Newsom is the current lieutenant governor and before that he was mayor of San Francisco. Newsom helped carve new policy for renewable energy and environmental protection as mayor, notably he made SF the first city in California to ban single-use plastic grocery bags. We have watched him grow into his role as lieutenant governor and become a strong voice for protecting the state’s coastal waters from polluters, including the oil and gas industry. He’s ready to be governor and help California continue its environmental leadership.
Lieutenant Governor: Jeff Bleich. Bleich is a lawyer whose most recent political job was as U.S. ambassador to Australia during the Obama Administration. Bleich’s environmental record dates back to his early career, when he worked for the Conservation Law Foundation. He understands environmental issues deeply. In California, the lieutenant governor sits on key commissions that have profound impacts on the state’s environmental policy, including the States Lands Commission. Bleich’s commitment and track record on the environment will serve California well on those commissions.
Attorney General: Xavier Becerra (incumbent). California's current Attorney General has been in the job just over a year, but it has been quite a year. Appointed to the post by the governor after Kamala Harris moved to the U.S. Senate, Becerra has been on the frontlines of fighting the Trump Administration through the courts, including Trump's efforts to dismantle environmental protection. Becerra has done a good job and deserves to be elected to a full term as AG.
Secretary of State: Alex Padilla (incumbent). When he first ran for Secretary of State in 2014, Padilla promised to update the way that office provides campaign finance information and improve Californians’ access to voting. He has delivered that and more. We endorsed Alex Padilla in 2014 and we enthusiastically endorse him again in 2018.
Controller: Betty Yee (incumbent). Sierra Club endorsed Betty Yee in 2014, when she was the underdog and won by a paper-thin margin, and we remain glad we did. As controller Yee sits on important boards and commissions whose actions affect environmental policy, such as the State Lands Commission and the California Public Employees Retirement System Board. She has a strong reputation in Sacramento for really understanding policy and policymaking, and how to get things done. She has demonstrated her commitment to reduce California’s dependence on fossil fuels through her actions and leadership on the State Lands Commission. We enthusiastically endorse Betty Yee for a second term as California’s controller.
