Environment and Energy

Santa Barbara – Today, Rep. Salud Carbajal (CA-24) and Senator Kamala Harris (D-CA) introduced the Central Coast Heritage Protection Act, which would designate nearly 250,000 acres of public land in the Los Padres National Forest and Carrizo Plain National Monument as wilderness.  The legislation also establishes a 400-mile long Condor National Recreation trail, stretching from Los… Read more »

Santa Barbara, CA – Today, Rep. Salud Carbajal (CA-24) issued the following statement in response to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to repeal the Obama-era Clean Power Plan: “As wildfires and hurricanes wreak havoc across our nation, it is clear that our nation is already experiencing the effects of climate… Read more »

Washington, DC – Today, Rep. Salud Carbajal (CA-24) announced the passage of his amendment to the FY18 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development Appropriations bill, requiring updated automatic shutoff valves and leak detection standards for oil and gas pipelines. The Pipeline Safety, Regulatory Certainty, and Job Creation Act of 2011 includes instruction that the Department of… Read more »

Washington, DC – Today, Rep. Salud Carbajal (CA-24) wrote to Ed Halpin, the Senior Vice President, Generation and Chief Nuclear Officer for Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E), to express his support for a community advisory panel during the decommissioning of two nuclear reactors at the Diablo Canyon Power Plant (DCPP) in San Luis Obispo. In accordance with Nuclear Regulatory… Read more »

After Review Halted for Five National Monuments, Carbajal Requests Exemption on Central Coast Santa Margarita, CA – Today, Rep. Salud Carbajal (CA-24) wrote to Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke, urging the Trump Administration to end review of the Carrizo Plain National Monument amid broad support for the Monument and public opposition to modification of its designation. Secretary… Read more »

Ocean winds that whip the Central Coast could be turned into an economic boom in the form of offshore wind turbines. But development of a floating wind energy farm, where towers rise above floating docks anchored to the ocean floor, likely wouldn’t begin for several years, according to representatives from a multiagency task force on renewable energy, who discussed the topic in… Read more »