Environment

I’ve built a strong track record of advocating for clean air, water, and energy protection. We can’t be prosperous as a nation if we’re simultaneously abusing our planet. We need to learn from the integral solutions found in parts of Europe, as well as in communities right in our back yard. The clean, green innovations of the present and future are the engine of the new economy. As your representative I will put my record make protecting our coast, healthy food systems and open spaces to work for you in Washington, including:

Protecting the Environment

• Investing in clean technology research, education, training, and jobs programs.
• Opposing offshore drilling and the tar sands pipeline project.
• Protecting our coastline by expanding marine sanctuaries and protecting our wetlands
• Voluntarily decommissioning our nuclear power plants.
• Supporting cap and trade policies and closing loopholes for gross polluters
• Incentives to allow farmers, vineyards, and fisheries to produce their own energy, without additional regulations, rezoning, or fees.
• Supporting a ban on plastic bags and plastic water bottles and provide infrastructure for composting biodegradable plastics.
• With significant oversight and controls in place, supporting the Klamath Dam Removal Project, which will help restore salmon runs, improve carbon emissions, create new infrastructure jobs, and pump millions of dollars back into our local economy.
• Federal support for cleanup of tsunami debris coming from Japan.
• Protecting Richardson Grove.

Tiffany in Action:

Renée helped write strong tree protection, green building, and hillside protection ordinances for Petaluma.

She has been a leader in advancing a plastic bag ban in Petaluma and Sonoma County.
Tiffany took a lead role in garnering opposition among the Petaluma City Council against the Dutra Corporation and their plans to erect an asphalt plant across from sensitive wetlands protected through millions of dollars of public investment. This led to the Council unanimously joining a lawsuit to stop the construction.

Renée opposed the Roblar Road Quarry project and enlisted the City Council to write a letter of opposition.

As founding member of Petaluma Grange #851, Tiffany wrote a resolution that would protect small farms who generate their own power via solar or wind from having land seized and permanently rezoned as commercial. The resolution was approved at the 2011 state grange convention.

Real Energy Reform

We need new leadership to take on the challenge of energy policy reform, invest in the green jobs of the future, and break our dependence on foreign oil.

Through the encouragement of its nine cities, Sonoma County has taken great steps to reduce emissions, improve energy efficiency, and create renewable energy projects. These goals and policy implementations should serve as a blueprint for new energy policy for the nation.

• I support municipal utilities that utilize a higher renewable energy portfolio, like Sonoma Clean Power and Marin Energy Authority, as a model for every county in the 2nd District.
• I support the decommissioning of nuclear power plants.
• I will ensure offshore drilling along California’s coast is never on the table.
• Energy efficient retrofits are an essential part of sound energy policy, but we need to go further.
• Our energy grid is outdated, disconnected, and inefficient. I support upgrading the national energy grid to be smart, community scaled, and increasing renewable energy sources to 50% of the national energy portfolio.
• We must create equity by connecting our rural communities to a smart grid and creating incentives to install local solar, wind energy solutions while funding research and development of new, clean, innovative renewable energy.

Tiffany in Action:

As a community leader and as a member of Sonoma County’s Regional Climate Protection Agency (RCPA), Renée has worked for the past five years to make Sonoma Clean Power a reality, creating a potential $200-300 million in investments in clean, renewable, infrastructure jobs and projects. She worked to have Petaluma adopt a Climate Action Plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 25% below 1990 levels by 2015.

Also through RCPA, Renée worked to create the Sonoma County Energy Independence Program, allowing businesses and homeowners to finance energy efficiency improvements through assessments. This program has been a job creator while reducing greenhouse gas emissions and saving people and businesses money on their energy bills.

Healthy Food Systems

Our local farms are in jeopardy. California is losing farmland to commercial interests at an alarming rate. Our farmers deserve a fair price for their hard work. We must continue to protect the organic label. Access to healthy food is vital for our urban centers and rural communities alike. As your Congresswoman, I will always support legislation that preserves healthy food systems and addresses food insecurity, including:

• Protecting our food security with continued sustainable fishing and farming practices.
• Protecting organic food sources — through labeling of GMO products and banning the use of GMO pollinator crops like alfalfa.
• Introducing educational policy that will ensure more fresh, healthy, locally grown foods make it into free and reduce school breakfast and lunch programs.
• Freeing up Federal funds for regional food banks and other programs actively fighting food insecurity.

Tiffany in Action:

Tiffany is a founding member of Petaluma Grange #851, dedicated to protecting Sonoma County’s legacy of organic and family farms. Through the Grange she has put forward resolutions to protect organic foods through banning GMO alfalfa and removing excessive permitting processes for farmers implementing renewable energy projects on their farms.

Renée organized and hosted a climate conference in May 2011, focused on how climate change is affecting farming and how farms can go green and save money with renewable energy projects.

Renée is working to protect family farms from regulations that would make herdsharing illegal. When families can share in cost and care of a cow they can improve food security and the sustainability of small family farms.