Energy and Environment

Alex is determined to fight the existential threat of climate change. Having grown up in a low-income, heavily polluted neighborhood, he is dedicated to ensuring that every family has access to clean air and clean water. He served for six years as Chair of the California State Senate Committee on Energy, Utilities, and Communications, where he led the development of California’s ambitious renewable energy and climate policies that now serve as a model for the rest of the country. Alex’s environmental leadership has continued in the U.S. Senate. In addition to cosponsoring the Green New Deal, Alex introduced sweeping legislation to electrify our nation’s school buses and protect over one million acres of public lands in California, increasing access to nature and preserving California’s natural treasures for generations to come.

Alex understands the threat that increasingly frequent and catastrophic natural disasters and extreme weather events pose to California and the Western United States. That’s why he fought to secure millions of dollars in federal funding for flood control infrastructure to protect communities from catastrophic floods and rising sea levels. His bill the POWER ON Act was signed into law by President Biden to prevent utility outages caused by natural disasters like wildfires and other extreme weather events. And while California continues to face the threat of devastating wildfires, Alex led the successful passage of the FIRE Act, to modernize the way FEMA prepares for and responds to wildfires.

Recent News

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) joined a Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing to question Secretary of Energy Chris Wright on President Trump’s America-last budget bill that would decimate the renewable energy economy, hamper American...
Senators Padilla and Schiff: “These unlawful terminations represent a significant setback for American energy independence, and they undermine California and America’s leadership in the globally competitive clean energy industry.” “These grants were provided through legally binding contract agreements between recipients...
WASHINGTON, D.C. — After Republicans shortsightedly revoked California’s clean air waivers last month, U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration and a member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, spoke on...
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) joined a Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing to question Secretary of Energy Chris Wright on President Trump’s America-last budget bill that would decimate the renewable energy economy, hamper American...
Senators Padilla and Schiff: “These unlawful terminations represent a significant setback for American energy independence, and they undermine California and America’s leadership in the globally competitive clean energy industry.” “These grants were provided through legally binding contract agreements between recipients...
WASHINGTON, D.C. — After Republicans shortsightedly revoked California’s clean air waivers last month, U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration and a member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, spoke on...
WATCH: Padilla Questions Interior Secretary Burgum on DOJ Memo During ENR Committee Hearing WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) issued the following statement after the Department of Justice (DOJ) released a new legal opinion that could pave...
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senators Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff (both D-Calif.) released the following statement in response to reporting of federal immigration authorities targeting California’s agricultural workers and communities in the Central Coast and Central Valley:   “We are...
WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senators Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), a member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources (ENR) Committee, Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Ranking Member of the Senate ENR Committee, and Jared Huffman (D-Calif.-02), Ranking Member of the...
Senator Padilla: “The Trump Administration and the Republican majority plowed ahead with an unprecedented power grab at the expense of the health of millions of children and families in California and many other states” Padilla releases memo outlining how Senate...
Senators to DOI Acting Inspector General: “We are concerned that the Administration’s actions to gut the agency of qualified public servants could leave critical water infrastructure and communities vulnerable to operational disruptions” WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.),...
LOS ANGELES, CA — U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) joined U.S. Representative Jimmy Panetta (D-Calif.-19), Senator Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), and a bipartisan group of California delegation members in demanding the restoration of the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Building Resilient...
LOS ANGELES, CA — U.S. Senators Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) and Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) introduced the Plant Biostimulant Act to create a uniform federal definition for plant biostimulants, establish a consistent regulatory pathway to market, and promote additional research into the...