Adam believes that climate change is the most urgent and existential crisis facing the U.S. and international community today and that, if left unchecked, it will bring about disastrous consequences for our environment, our food and water supply, the global economy, and our national security. And Adam knows that it is young people leading the way calling for urgent and needed change. 

Adam is an original cosponsor of the Green New Deal and supports taking unprecedented action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, end the use of fossil fuels (including ending subsidies to fossil fuel companies), protect our air and water, and invest in a green economy. Adam also supports the establishment of a Civilian Climate Corps, which would create millions of new jobs dedicated to fighting climate change and protecting earth’s natural beauty and resources.  

He has opposed misguided and dangerous attempts to roll back environmental protections and to strip the Environmental Protection Agency of its authority to regulate air pollution, which would harm countless families across the country particularly those in large urban areas like Los Angeles and in California.

For two decades, Adam has called for an Apollo Project-like effort to make a permanent, universal transition to renewable energy – a task worthy of the same energy and fortitude it took to win the space race. Adam continues to fight to expand America’s renewable energy industry, particularly at home in California. He supports tax credits and loan guarantees for renewable energy research and has successfully offered several amendments to increase funding for advanced energy research at the Department of Energy. Recently, Adam helped secure millions of dollars for EV charging machines in Los Angeles as part of bipartisan infrastructure investments. Adam strongly opposes opening the California coast to oil and gas drilling and has consistently voted against legislation that would allow drilling off the coast of California or that would weaken drilling safety regulations. He also supports a federal ban against all offshore drilling.

Adam believes the best way to keep energy prices low and decrease our reliance on foreign countries for fuel is to invest in alternative energy and fuel efficiency technologies. By marshaling America’s great strengths— our innovativeness, our technological prowess, and our entrepreneurial spirit— to develop clean energy technologies, Adam believes that we can better secure our nation, protect the environment, and become the world leader in a cutting-edge industry.

As a Californian, Adam knows just how destructive wildfires can be to communities across the state. And in college, Adam even served as a summer fire fighter. With the climate crisis bringing about unprecedented heatwaves and droughts, these wildfires have grown exponentially more frequent, deadly, devastating and expensive – and Adam believes we must use every tool available to protect lives and livelihoods from these horrifying blazes.  

After the Station Fire, Adam led the fight to investigate the cause, and secured funding for additional night flying helicopters and scoopers to fight wildfires before they get out of control. In 2021, Adam led the California congressional delegation in calling for the Department of Defense to extend the FireGuard program, which uses defense technology to spot incipient blazes and allows firefighters to respond to them, before they spiral out of control. As a result of these efforts, the essential program – which was set to expire in September 2021 – was extended for at least another year. Adam will keep fighting for the resources needed to fight wildfires and decrease their destruction.

Restoring the Los Angeles River

Restoring the Los Angeles River has long been one of Adam’s top priorities, and he has worked extensively with the City of Los Angeles and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on a plan to revitalize this essential waterway. In 2014, after years of evaluation and planning, the City of Los Angeles and Army Corps decided to move forward with an ambitious restoration plan for the Los Angeles River and to split the costs of the project, starting with environmental reviews and feasibility studies.

This ambitious project will restore more than 700 acres of open space along a broad stretch of the Los Angeles River stretching from Griffith Park to downtown Los Angeles and allow for a continuous, functioning ecosystem along the river corridor that could support birds, mammals, and fish, as well as recreational activities. New trails and overlooks will provide public access, along with bicycle and pedestrian connections to green spaces where families and communities can congregate.

Adam will continue to work to ensure the Congress provides robust funding for the Army Corps to ensure that the Los Angeles River project receives the federal support it needs.

Adam believes that wilderness lands, including the Southern California foothills, are treasures that we must continually work to preserve for future generations. That’s why he has supported many efforts to preserve wilderness lands across the country. In Southern California specifically, Adam introduced and passed the landmark Rim of the Valley Corridor Study Act, legislation that commissioned a study on the feasibility of expanding the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area to include the mountains and canyons in the Rim of the Valley Corridor. The Corridor consists of parts of the Santa Monica Mountains, Santa Susanna Mountains, San Gabriel Mountains, Verdugo Mountains, San Rafael Hills, and adjacent connector areas to the Los Padres and San Bernardino National Forests— in essence, many of the hills and mountains surrounding Burbank, Glendale, and other communities in our area.  

The National Park Service began its study in 2010 and transmitted its final report to Congress in February of 2016. Over the following years, Rep. Schiff held numerous townhalls, conducted extensive outreach, and drafted the Rim of the Valley Corridor Preservation Act. The bill would expand the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area by approximately 191,000 acres, empowering the National Park Service and local communities to better protect this jewel of nature. In April 2019, the Natural Resources Committee held a hearing on the legislation, and in 2021, the House passed this legislation as part of an annual bill – but it did not proceed in the Senate. Adam intends to move this bill through the legislative process in order to preserve green space in the Los Angeles region. A map of the proposed expansion can be found here, and to view the fact sheet about the legislation, click here.

Adam believes the U.S. must maintain its vigilance and expertise in earthquake research and preparedness before the Big One. He has been the leader in Congress in supporting and providing funding for the West Coast Earthquake Early Warning System, developed by the U.S. Geological Survey, Caltech, UC Berkeley, and other West Coast universities. Such an early warning system would be enormously helpful in providing residents and first responders with advanced notice that could help avert major infrastructure damage, reduce injuries, and save lives.  

Since 2012, Adam has led his colleagues in Congress in urging both the Office of Management and Budget and his fellow Appropriations Committee members to support funding for the Earthquake Hazards Program, and specifically, the Earthquake Early Warning system. Adam first secured $5 million in funding for the system in FY15. Since then, Congress has continually increased funding each fiscal year to support the growth of the system, thanks to Adam’s continued advocacy. Most recently, Adam led a letter to the Appropriations Committee in April 2021 with 40 House members asking for $28.6 million for the continued rollout and maintenance of the West Coast Earthquake Early Warning System. Adam continues to push for the necessary funding to fully build out this system, so that those who call the West Coast home can avoid unnecessary injury, damage, and death when the next Big One hits.