Phil’s Record on Environmental Issues

Phil Angelides - endorsed by the Sierra Club and referred to as one of the "greenest" candidates for Governor this state has ever seen - has put environmental protection at the center of his work both as Treasurer and a private citizen.  Phil Angelides will be a Governor you can count on to work tirelessly to protect the environment and combat global warming.  Phil’s action on the environment stands in stark contrast to Governor Schwarzenegger, whose actual record on the environment is as weak as his hollow rhetoric is high-handed.

• Catching the ‘Green Wave’ of Environmental Investments: Phil Angelides’ groundbreaking GreenWave environmental investment initiative put the $300 billion might of the state’s two pension funds behind investment and innovation for an environmentally sustainable economy and set a new standard for corporate environmental responsibility. The Green Wave initiative led California’s pension funds to invest $1.5 billion in renewable energy, cutting-edge environmental technologies, and environmentally responsible companies; to push companies to address the financial risks posed by environmental liabilities and global warming; and to reduce energy consumption by their massive real estate holdings.
• Making Smart Investments: Phil Angelides’ innovative, nationally recognized Smart Investments and Double Bottom Line initiatives redirected more than $26 billion in state investments to curb sprawl, spur economic progress in urban, inner city communities and promote energy-efficient and sustainable development practices.
• Cleaning Up Toxic "Brownfields": Phil Angelides created Cal ReUSE, a program to help cities finance the cleanup of contaminated properties in the midst of California communities.
• Eliminating Gas Guzzlers from State's Vehicle Fleet: Phil Angelides sponsored the law to stop the state from buying wasteful SUVs and to require the administration to green the state’s fleet of 70,000 vehicles to be the most fuel-efficient in the world.
• Putting Hybrid Vehicles in California's "Fast Lane": Phil Angelides sponsored legislation to open California’s high-occupancy vehicle lanes to hybrid and other fuel-efficient, advanced technology automobiles.
• Created Alternative Transportation Solutions: Conceived, funded and implemented "Free Ride Day" generating record ridership on the Sacramento Regional Transit light rail and bus system by making free rides available to all on Earth Day, 1990.
• Planning Smart Growth: Phil Angelides established the Sustainable Communities Grant and Loan Program that has provided over $4 million in grants for locally sponsored smart growth initiatives.
• Promoting Livable Communities: As a businessman, Phil Angelides planned and built a community that was featured in Time, Newsweek, The New York Times, U.S. News & World Report, and ABC-TV's "Good Morning, America" for its thoughtful approach to creating "livable communities."
• Wildlife Refuge: Provided early and vocal support for the Stone Lakes National Refuge, now one of the most significant wildlife refuges in the Central Valley.
• Protecting Our Communities: Led fight against the Rancho Seco nuclear power plant in Sacramento - Angelides co-signed the ballot argument in support of the successful proposition to shut it down in 1989.
  
  Learn more about the community of Laguna West.
• Better Homes and Gardens, "The New American Neighborhood"
• Sacramento Bee, Inside Business, "Laguna Lives"
• Sacramento Bee, "Laguna Plan Exciting and Important"
• US News, "Can a New Suburb be Like a Small Town?
  
  
• Strengthening Environmental Standards for Developing Countries: Phil Angelides sponsored the adoption of a landmark, first-in-the-nation policy affecting over $3.6 billion in state pension fund investments in developing countries. The policy screens out investments in countries and companies that do not adhere to the Global Sullivan Principles, which include protection of the environment and promotion of sustainable development.
• Winning Recognition for Environmental Leadership: Phil Angelides has received the following awards, among others, for his groundbreaking environmental leadership:
• Most Imaginative Community-Wide Effort to Clean the Air
  Sacramento Partners for Clean Air, 1990
• Planning Vision California Award
  American Planning Association, 2000
• 25th Anniversary Tribute
  Urban Ecology, 2001
• Local Environmental Leadership Award
  presented by Mikhail Gorbachev on behalf of Global Green, 2002 
• Environmental Leadership Award
  California League of Conservation Voters, 2003
• Lifetime Achievement Award
  Congress for the New Urbanism, 2005