Governor Jerry Brown declared a drought State of Emergency in January and directed officials to take all necessary steps to prepare for continued water shortages. The Drought Operations Plan was put into effect to protect the state’s economy and environment, and ensure that significant water needs are met in this third consecutive year of severe drought levels.
But, we're now entering our fourth year.
In Santa Clara County, the District Board of Directors unanimously passed a resolution for mandatory water reduction of twenty percent of last year’s water use, and while drought conditions have not improved, the challenge to reduce water usage has become even greater.
That's why Congressman Honda introduced “The Climate Change Education Act. "As a former teacher, I understand the importance of imparting knowledge to help people make wise decisions,”Rep. Honda said upon the bill’s introduction, “By providing people clear information about climate change, in a variety of forms, we can take away the fear and the sense of helplessness, and move people to take action."
“The Climate Change Education Act will create a Climate Change Education Program in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration,” Congressman Honda said. “This program will broaden the understanding of human-induced climate change, the possible long- and short-term consequences, and potential solutions. The program will promote education about national strategies for resilience to the effects of climate change, including extreme weather events and rising sea levels, to make sure our infrastructure is safe and reliable. The latest scientific and technological discoveries will be implemented to provide formal and informal learning opportunities to people of all ages."Mike Honda has been working on the Climate Change Education Act since 2007 when it was called the Global Warming Education Act. He introduced it again in 2009 when he thought congress was getting serious about Climate Change. But, he was mistaken. Today we have more climate deniers in Congress and the Senate, and more dissemination of misleading information than ever.
The Climate Change Education Act of 2014"would allocate $20 million to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to create a new Climate Change Education Program. This program would be responsible for writing grants to support national public education and outreach, statewide public school climate change education, and improved access to higher education in green industries. This broad focus of the grants hopes to provide a varied approach to educating young people who often lack a basic understanding of climate science and climate economics."
His work to educate the people is one reason he is endorsed by Climate Hawks Vote.
Mike Honda (CA-17, Silicon Valley) has been a stalwart on climate change among other progressive causes. He’s authored a core bill, HR 4461, requiring climate change education - a happy contrast to those red states whose textbooks question science. And he’s tied a tech-savvy Smart Electronics bill to climate change. He’s spoken out for a carbon tax and against Republican efforts to gut the EPA. He’s being challenged by a technology mogul who promises to represent the businesses of Silicon Valley; but Mike represents something far more important, people. His leadership on climate is demonstrated by the fact that he’s among the top 10 members of Congress on our very tough leadership scorecard.The Smart Electronics Act is aimed at making electronics like IPods, IPads, smartphones, and gaming consoles more energy efficient by limiting their energy consumption and impact on the electricity grid and adding them to the Energy Star program.
Another recent bill is the The Incentives for our Nation’s Veterans in Energy Sustainability Technologies (INVEST) Act of 2014, introduced with Congresswoman Barbara Lee. This bill is aimed at improving the lives of veterans by extending the work opportunity tax credits to companies in the green technology field who employ veterans.