Our Climate Future: A Forum with California's Next Governor
Californians are facing an affordability crisis driven by the climate crisis—and voters are hungry for leadership that will protect communities and make our economy sustainable for the long haul.
EnviroVoters partnered with Center for Law, Energy & the Environment (CLEE) at the University of California, Berkeley, The Climate Center Action Fund, and NRDC Action Fund to host a virtual, climate-focused governor’s forum. This event gave voters the opportunity to hear candidates’ plans to address the impacts that the climate crisis has on Californians’ homes, wallets, and health.
The event was hosted in Pasadena, just over a year after the 2025 Los Angeles wildfires devastated this and neighboring communities across Southern California, including Altadena, La Cañada Flintridge, Pacific Palisades, Malibu, and the San Fernando Valley. The Los Angeles wildfires forced almost 180,000 Southern Californians to evacuate their homes and has since been hailed as one of the costliest climate disasters in our nation’s history.
We invited the top 6 polling candidates based on publicly available polling. Xavier Becerra, Civil Rights Attorney; Katie Porter, Consumer Protection Attorney; Tom Steyer, Business Leader and Climate Advocate; and Eric Swalwell, US Representative, have agreed to participate. Chad Bianco and Steve Hilton were invited, but their campaign teams did not respond to our invitation.
While Tony Thurmond, State Superintendent of Public Instruction; Antonio Villaraigosa, Public Policy Advisor; and Betty Yee, Nonprofit Leader, will not be participating in-person, they have been invited to submit videos answering questions to allow voters to hear their positions on key topics, which will be shared soon.
Our Partners
Thank you to our partners for supporting the Governor’s Forum!
