Environment and Climate Change

The League of Women Voters has been at the forefront of the environmental protection movement for decades, consistently supporting legislation to preserve our nation’s natural resources and protect our public health. The Climate Change Toolkit: Resources and priorities at National.

The Water/Climate Nexus: Leagues Take Actions is a member resource from LWV Lake Michigan Region

LWVC Climate Change issues

A critical issue in the 2015-2017 legislative session is the need for further action on climate change, beginning with Governor Brown’s State of the State address in January 2015 and continuing with several ambitious bill proposals.

SB 350 (de León and Leno) passed and was signed by the Governor in October 2015. League members fought hard to pass SB 350, which drew some of the strongest fire of the session. The oil industry spent millions to influence business-friendly Democrats to oppose SB 350’s requirement of a 50 percent reduction in petroleum use for transportation by 2030, and in the end that provision was removed from the bill. Even with that setback, though, SB 350 is an enormously important bill requiring 50 percent of our electricity from renewable energy sources and a doubling of energy efficiency in buildings by 2030.

LWV Pasadena's Climate Change Forum

LWV-PA has developed a series of events on Climate Change to engage the wider community in a dialogue about the issues that are becoming imperative in Climate public policy. A Climate Change Forum series has also been presented in conjunction with local community environmental groups.

League Day Meeting Nov. 2, 2017
Seeking Solutions to Climate Change

League Day Meeting May 4, 2017
The Future of Wild and Urban California Forests in Our Changing Climate

League Day Meeting May 5, 2016
Rising Seas and Falling Aquifers

League Day Meeting May 7, 2015
California’s Water Crisis: Where Are We Going?

League Day Tour May 3, 2013
Tour of the South Coast AQMD complex in Diamond Bar

Climate Change Forum Series

Seventh Annual Climate Change Forum: New Scientific Insights
March 24, 2018
First United Methodist Church, Pasadena
Annmarie Eldering and Ian Fenty, presenters

Sixth Annual Climate Change Forum: Working Together to Fight Climate Change
April 1, 2017
First United Methodist Church, Pasadena
La Ronda Bowen, Nate Lewis and Edward Avol, presenters

Fifth Annual Climate Change Forum: Our Atmosphere: From Around the Globe to Los Angeles
March 19, 2016
Neighborhood Church, Pasadena
John Odell, Josh Fisher and Jason Low, presenters

Fourth Annual Climate Change Forum: Your Carbon Footprint
March 21, 2015
Neighborhood Church, Pasadena
Leesa Nayudu, Laura Crane and Rob Haw, presenters

Third Annual Climate Change Forum: The Local Effects of Climate Change
March 29, 2014
All Saints Church, Pasadena
Jim Waterhouse, Daniel Walton and Jonathan Parfrey, presenters

Second Annual Climate Change Forum (video is here): Natural Resources Forum
May 11, 2013
All Saints Church, Pasadena

Speakers were La Ronda Bowen, Ombudsman, California Air Resources Board; Shari Thomas, Assistant General Manager, Pasadena Water and Power; and Teresa Pisano, Environmental Mitigation Coordinator, Port of Los Angeles. The moderator was Felicia Williams, former Chair, City of Pasadena Environmental Advisory Commission.

First Annual Forum: Climate Change and Water
April 21, 2012
All Saints Church, Pasadena

“We consider the water issue primary to the future of California, so we are bringing it to the forefront. It occurred to us that not a lot of people have an understanding of the dilemma societies are facing,” she said. “Some desert countries are beginning to run out of water. It is a situation that will impact all of us, when you consider climate change and what it has done to rainfall rates,” said Yvonne Pines, past President of the LWV-PA. California water issues are outlined on the LWVC Water Issues page.

Dr. Josh Fisher from JPL provided information on climate change and how it will impact water sources, vegetation and general health in coming years. Fisher was joined by Tony Zampiello, assistant executive officer of the San Gabriel Water Basin Watermaster. Zampiello discussed the history of local water sources and the current situation with the state water project, as well as contamination and water rights. Adrienne Alvord of the Union of Concerned Scientists addressed recent legislation enacted to curb pollution and help mitigate climate change and how that legislation has impacted the struggling economy and jobs.