Energy and Environment

Oregonians know the value of our natural resources. Our arable farmlands, forests and grasslands, fisheries, and waterways are essential to the state’s economic and environmental prosperity.

Throughout my career, I’ve sought to champion and protect Oregon’s unique environment, while also finding ways to help our state thrive in a new, cleaner economy. I’ve worked directly with some of the state’s leading environmental advocacy groups and, in the Oregon Legislature, I led and cosponsored legislation aiming to protect children from toxic chemicals, incentivize solar power and electric vehicles, and lower utility costs in low-income communities.

Now, as a member of the 118^th Congress and of the Sustainable Energy & Environment Coalition, I’m leveraging my assignments to the House Committee on Agriculture and the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology to advance bipartisan environmental and energy legislation. I’m also seeking to draw climate funding and investments from the Inflation Reduction Act and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to catalyze new clean energy projects and create good-paying jobs in Oregon’s Sixth District.

Oregon communities have already dealt with some of the worst impacts of climate change, from massive wildfires to intense summer heat waves. As your representative, I am committed to advancing policies that will bolster Oregon’s resilience against extreme weather impacts and mitigate further climate disruption. In June, I introduced the Civilian Conservation Center Enhancement Act of 2023, a bill that would support specialized training for wildland fire, forestry and rangeland management — and cut the bureaucratic red tape associated with the Forest Service’s hiring of wildland firefighters. I’m also an original cosponsor of the National Climate Emergency Resolution, a bill that directs the president to declare a national climate emergency and mobilize every resource at the country's disposal to halt, reverse, mitigate, and prepare for the consequences of this climate crisis.