Central Valley leaders work across the political aisle for the good of the environment | Opinion

Here in the Central Valley, we’ve all been affected by record breaking heat, poor air quality and the costs of increased reliance on air conditioning — for those lucky enough to have it.

As a grandmother, health care provider and lover of the outdoors, I want to ensure we have a stable future for children. I worry about the working and living conditions of my neighbors, and feel the impact on my own mental and physical health when I can’t safely enjoy time outside.

That’s why, this past June, I joined a delegation of local volunteers from Citizens’ Climate Lobby Fresno who traveled to Washington, D.C. to meet with our congressional representatives. We joined 1,000 ordinary citizens from around the country, converging on Capitol Hill to advocate for common-sense, nonpartisan solutions to counter extreme weather and pollution.

It felt good to be heard. And, since that trip, two Valley leaders — Rep. David Valadao, R-Hanford, and Jim Costa, D-Fresno — have co-sponsored the Providing Reliable, Objective, Verifiable Emissions Intensity and Transparency (PROVE IT) Act, which would provide detailed and transparent data on emissions in the production and transport of critical goods like steel, cement and fertilizer. Products produced in the U.S. are typically cleaner than the rest of the world, and “proving” this lets us hold countries with less stringent environmental standards accountable.

This will boost American business by bolstering arguments for promoting domestic manufacturing and energy production and help address global emissions contributing to air pollution and extreme weather.

“To address climate change, we must have a global race to the top so that all nations have more strong incentives to reduce their emissions,” California Rep. Scott Peters, D-San Diego, who co-authored the PROVE IT Act, said in a press statement. “(It) will provide the data to show the benefits of America’s high environmental standards while holding nations like China accountable for their emissions-intensive practices.”

How best to address climate change can be a contentious topic, but I’m encouraged that people from across the political spectrum are seeing the benefits of investing in climate-smart technologies and vehicles at their farms, ranches and homes.

We must do our best to keep seeking bipartisan solutions that will improve our lives and ensure we can build the clean energy infrastructure needed to transition away from burning heat-trapping fossil fuels overheating our planet.

Right now, more than 95% of new energy projects awaiting permits are solar, wind and battery storage. Building a new electrical transmission line, on average, takes over a decade, and solar, wind and transmission projects are litigated at higher rates than other infrastructure projects. If the construction of energy infrastructure continues at this pace, we will not be able to lower our emissions at the speed and scale necessary to avoid the worst effects of climate change and ensure Americans have affordable and reliable energy in the 21st century.

In just a few months we will have the opportunity to vote for new political leaders. We can help move the needle toward a more hopeful future by voting for candidates who demonstrate that they will work across the aisle to protect our soil, water, air and atmosphere.