A conversation for Sustainable San Mateo County’s 3rd annual Youth for Climate Policy event

The ocean connects us — not just the land and water but something deeper. It binds us through shared challenges, collective responsibility, and a common future. Even for those who live far from the shore, our daily actions flow into the sea, literally and figuratively. Cars, trucks, buses, leak oil, they shed rubber and emit toxins.

Ships are massive engines of global commerce. They burn heavy fuel oil, releasing exhaust into the air and wastewater into the sea, impacting marine ecosystems and coastal communities alike. And when it rains, pollutants from our roads and industrial zones wash into storm drains, rivers and ultimately into the ocean.

Transportation is just one reason that I worked so hard during my time as a board member on  the California Air Resources Board. Before that, I spent years as a mayor and a city council member, supporting cities and counties as they grappled with growth, working to build homes, connect communities, and invest in transit, often in places long overlooked. But, we also had to confront the consequences of over consumption and unchecked use of natural resources.

Climate change affects everyone, but the burden is not shared equally. Nearly 31 million people in the United States live within three miles of a port.  The container ships that service these ports emit heavy smoke and pollution into the air, contributing to serious public health risks. The impact is enormous and we need to be accountable. 

Some communities — particularly low-income families, immigrants and people of color — are hit first and worse.They live near highways, ports, and factories. They breathe dirtier air. They have fewer parks and are more vulnerable to floods and extreme heat. This did not happen by  accident but was created by design. 

Addressing climate change requires a massive systematic change. This includes behavior change and deep structural reform both at once, and sometimes these forces clash. But the future is shaped by those who can explain in plain language the complexity of the moment and offer a future worth fighting for. We need to design a road map that marries science and lived experiences and speaks to affordability, equity and accountability. Affordability is too often used as a shield to delay justice instead of a sword for justice.

And this is where SB 1000 comes in. 

California passed this landmark law in 2016 to make equity part of how cities and counties plan their future. SB 1000 requires local governments to identify environmental justice communities, integrate equity into general plans, reduce pollution exposure and expand access to clean air, housing, transit, parks and safe water. It transforms aspiration into obligation. It asks us to name the harm and then act to repair it. But tools like SB 1000 are only strong as the hands that use them.

Right now, advancing the environmental justice movement needs political will — matched by institutional humility. That’s why we must support and uplift various environmental justice groups that can hold different boards accountable all over. We did so at the Bay Area Air District during my time in leadership. We began embedding a racial equity lens into data, permitting, enforcement, and decision-making, revealing where harms exist and who continues to bear the burden. Accountability is not enough, long-term investments in frontline communities must also be made.

Groups on the ground need resourcing, not just consultation. They need to co-govern, not be invited in after decisions are made. Equity work requires consistency, not just crisis response. I started by childhood in Gary and East Chicago, Indiana, where environmental injustice had a smell. You could taste it before you saw the smokestacks from the refineries and the steel mills. They shaped everything that came after.

Later, I attended Baylor University. I had a bumper sticker that said, “Question authority.” This questioning spirit led me from medicine to law and eventually to environmental governance because clean air, clean water and livable climates are not guaranteed. They are built by folks just like you and they are also defended and fought for.

I’ve learned that data alone doesn’t move people. Stories do. Science tells us what’s happening. Stories tell us why it matters. At the world’s largest international climate meeting known as COP, I saw what happens when you combine both lived experience with rigorous science. That’s when decision makers with political will stop debating and start acting.

I live in a cleaner place now than where I grew up as a small child, but I still ask myself: What am I doing to build the future I say I believe in? 

Environmental justice is not about guilt. It’s about reflection, responsibility and reckoning.

Wherever you are on your journey, we can move forward together — because the ocean connects us, and justice binds us.

Watch the full conversation on YouTube.