Ro Khanna on Environment

Promote open space and sustainable agriculture

• Encourage energy efficiency and water conservation. Water and energy are two of the biggest issues of our time, and Ro will bring together stakeholders and experts to find a solution that works for everybody.
• Promote open space and sustainable communities. We need to strike a balance of growing our economy while at the same time preserving the open space and park land that makes the South Bay beautiful.
• Support the EPA in holding local polluters accountable.
• Develop alternative energy to reduce our carbon footprint and tackle climate change.
• Promote open space and sustainable agriculture. Those of who live and work in Silicon Valley know that there is much more than sprawling campuses and freeways. We also have a rich agricultural history--Silicon Valley was [once] famous for having some of the most fertile soil in the nation.

Keep restrictive rules for predator control in Alaska.

Library of Congress Summary: This joint resolution nullifies the rule finalized by the Department of the Interior on Aug. 5, 2016, relating to non-subsistence takings of wildlife and public participation and closure procedures on National Wildlife Refuges in Alaska.

Case for voting YES by House Republican Policy Committee: The Fish and Wildlife Service rule--which lays claim to more than 20% of Alaska--violates ANILCA (Alaska National Interest Land Conservation Act) and the Alaska Statehood Compact. Not only does [the existing 2016 rule] undermine Alaska's ability to manage fish and wildlife upon refuge lands, it fundamentally destroys a cooperative relationship between Alaska and the federal government.

Case for voting NO by the Sierra Club (April 6, 2017):

• President Trump signed H.J. Res. 69, overturning the rule that banned "predator control" on federal wildlife refuges in Alaska unless "based on sound science in response to a conservation concern."
• Any rule mentioning "sound science" is in trouble under a Trump administration.
• So what kinds of practices will the Trump administration now allow on our federal wildlife refuges? Activities that include shooting or trapping wolves while in their dens with pups, or hunting for grizzly bears from airplanes.
• It's all about ensuring a maximum yield of prey species like elk, moose, and caribou for the real apex predator: humans. So if having more elk requires killing wolf pups in their dens, then so be it.
• The Obama administration's rule (which Trump revoked) never tried to stop all hunting. Subsistence hunting was still allowed. What's changed is that the predators on federal wildlife refuges are now under the control of the state of Alaska. And that makes them prey.