Padilla named to Senate Environment and Public Works Subcommittees
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) has been named to several subcommittees on the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee, covering transportation, infrastructure, climate and clean air, and environmental justice policy.
Senator Padilla was named to the following subcommittees of the Senate EPW Committee:
- Transportation and Infrastructure
- Clean Air, Climate, and Nuclear Safety
- Chemical Safety, Waste Management, Environmental Justice, and Regulatory Oversight
“Working class communities, like the one I grew up in, have long felt the disproportionate and cumulative impacts of pollution,” Senator Padilla said. “From plastic blight that littered my neighborhood to ‘smog days’ that sent us home from school due to bad air quality, I understand the real-life consequences of harmful environmental policies that deprive every person’s right to breathe clean air and drink clean water, keep kids home from school, and dampen economic prosperity and job opportunities. That’s why I’m so pleased to join these committees, where I will proudly reassert California’s leadership in addressing the climate crisis and fostering opportunity for all. I look forward to representing California as we build back better with the resilient, equitable, and just infrastructure of the future.”
“In his home state of California, Senator Padilla has demonstrated his steadfast, strong commitment to protecting our environment and building a more sustainable future,” said Chairman Carper. “I’m proud he’s joined us on the Environment and Public Works Committee to continue his leadership on these critical issues in the Senate. I know he will be a champion for the people of California and our nation, fighting every day to ensure all our communities have access to safe transportation and clean air and water.”
Padilla has a long history crafting public policy to reduce pollution and improve environmental justice. As a Los Angeles city council member, he created the city’s first environmental justice zone, which provided extra consideration to areas with a high concentration of existing industrial solid waste and recycling facilities. As a California State Senator, he chaired the Committee on Energy, Utilities and Communications. There he helped enact legislation to increase the deployment of renewable energy, boost energy efficiency and modernize the electric grid. He also successfully authored and passed a landmark statewide ban on single-use plastic bags, making California the first state in the nation to ban single-use plastic bags.
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