Raised in East Los Angeles, Ricardo Lara knows firsthand what it’s like to live in some of the nation’s busiest and most polluted transportation corridors.  Ricardo, who was part of the California legislative delegation at the U.N. COP21 Paris Climate Conference in 2015 and the COP23 Germany Climate Conference in 2017, has emerged as one of the most effective California environmental champions by consistently passing laws that improve health conditions and rein in air pollution.

- Authored SB 605 in 2014, which required the Air Resources Board to develop a short-lived climate pollutant strategy. Short-lived climate pollutants have been proven to warm the earth more quickly than traditional greenhouse gases and are a significant impediment to public health– especially in disadvantaged communities.

- Authored Super Pollutant Reduction Act (SB 1383), which set the nation’s toughest standards to slash emissions of black carbon, methane, and fluorinated gases. These dangerous pollutants have a disproportionate impact on our climate, agriculture, and human health.

- In 2014, Governor Brown signed SB 712, a bill Ricardo authored that forced hazardous waste-producing facilities to come into compliance with safety standards within a specific timetable. Ricardo has authored legislation that requires chemical companies to disclose the ingredients in household cleaners, and taken a number of steps to make California’s consumers better informed about potential dangers to themselves and to the environment.