Public Safety

This session reframes clean power from a niche environmental issue to what it truly is: a foundational public safety and leadership imperative. As the former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of California, I made environmental enforcement one of three core pillars of our office not as a philosophical choice, but as a practical necessity. Environmental harm, unsafe energy use, and climate impacts directly threaten public safety, economic stability, and the rule of law.

In this fast-paced, 10-minute talk, I'll share lessons from prosecuting environmental violations that apply directly to today's clean power industry. Clean energy isn't optional infrastructure; it's essential for public trust, workforce protection, and long-term industry viability. Drawing on experience as a certified Climate Reality trainer and decades in conservation advocacy, I'll demonstrate how energy use, conservation, and climate resilience intersect with every sector: employment law, construction, land use, transportation, technology, and industrial development.

As we face a global climate crisis, leaders shaping energy systems must integrate environmental responsibility into every public safety, legal, and business decision. If we fail to speak about the scale of this risk, we lose sight of its consequences for communities, workers, and future economic growth. Clean power is not optional; it is essential infrastructure for public trust, workforce protection, and long-term industry viability.

This talk offers a prosecutor's perspective on why silence about climate impacts is no longer tenable, and how leaders across industries can embed climate responsibility into decision-making at every level.

Key Message: Clean power is not an environmental issue. It is a public safety imperative that demands leadership action.