What do you do?
I’m an architect trying to make a difference in the built environment of Los Angeles.
How did you first become involved at California Environmental Voters?
My husband, Brian Wilson, loves the California Environmental Scorecard that you publish each year rating the performance of legislators on their voting records on environmental policy. Each year, we get the Scorecard and dig deep. It informs us about who our elected officials actually are; your Scorecard tells us how they are voting and then we can choose who we want to support based on that information. Over time, we have become even more aware of the work that the organization does.
Renee is passionate about nature and loves to spend time planting trees with her daughter. An urban planner, Renee highlights that trees help “shade buildings, clean the air, and use gray water all in one place.”
What inspires you and draws you to environmental work?
I am fascinated by environmental justice—the contrast between areas that have been protected and cared for, and those areas which have not. I love the outdoors and nature and I am committed to ensuring that everybody gets to have access. I’m also passionate about the lived environment—that there is equity within it and throughout our society.
What do you find most challenging about this work?
The slow pace. How to make a difference is difficult. And it often takes a long time. You have to build coalitions to make environmental change and then, sometimes, when you make a change for the better, it’s not something that’s always easily measurable. It can take a long time to have its effect.
Why is the work of California Environmental Voters important and what inspires you to financially support the organization?
I like that California Environmental Voters monitors all the environmental issues and the unseen ramifications that I don’t always perceive. Developing legislation in Sacramento (or anywhere) is complicated and there are often ramifications that I don’t understand. EnviroVoters dedicates the time and has the bandwidth to investigate and point out those ramifications to its members like me, and will lobby the legislators for environmentally-minded legislation and votes. As a result, I am a better educated voter and a better educated supporter of candidates. I often feel like an elected official will say, “I’m a big environmentalist.” California Environmental Voters gives me the tools to know whether they are actually voting that way.
What do you believe are some of the solutions to combat the climate crisis?
Culture change can do so much to make change and that can be spurred by government outreach. Something as simple as making it normal to bring bags to the grocery store—it wasn’t something that was done and then, all of a sudden, it became completely normal. Whether those bags are environmental is a whole other discussion. How many of those bags we have is another discussion. But the government can offer carrots and sticks.
What do you want the California Environmental Voters community to know? What do you think they should be aware of?
I think people should be active in public discourse—at community meetings and in contacting legislators. It’s all really powerful. If you can make your point with a specific ask, not only saying that you object or support something, but request a specific change, that is incredibly effective. Currently, I get to be a decision-maker on the Los Angeles City Planning Commission and when someone comes in and tells me specifically what they want versus “I don’t like what they’re doing,” that helps me as a decision-maker and shows me that person is informed. For example, when someone says, “I don’t like this. It’s going to increase traffic in my neighborhood and there’s a school right nearby. So I think you should deal with the stoplight over there,” it is such an excellent illustration of how public comment or public letters can be used constructively. Everybody needs to be involved in public discourse.
What issues are you most passionate about it?
I am really passionate about environmental justice and stopping urban oil drilling. Certainly, everyone is thinking about that right now with the Huntington Beach oil spill off our coast, fouling our beaches and killing animals and plants and making it so that no one can use our greatest outdoor space in our coastal California areas. Years ago, I toured the drilling around Los Angeles and was able to speak to those affected by urban oil drilling and see where it was in approximation to our neighborhoods and sensitive users. That really blew my mind. So, I’ve been working with LA County, which just passed a ban on urban oil drilling, and the City of Los Angeles to stop urban oil drilling. And I am really hopeful that EnviroVoters’ connections at the state level will actually bear this fruit as well.
Another issue I’m really passionate about, as an architect, is building decarbonization because it is a huge portion of our environmental load. Architects are getting together and doing all sorts of self-education and study to figure out how best to make our buildings more environmentally effective; that includes everything from the energy to keep them cool, to the materials that are used to make them (and how much carbon is in those materials), to where the materials come from, to the longevity of the buildings. It is super appealing to work with clients engaged in zero-carbon initiatives. Designing for long-term adaptive reuse of structures and future-proofing them is also incredibly important.
What would you tell someone who’s thinking about supporting or volunteering for California Environmental Voters?
You get out what you put in, so put in more to California Environmental Voters! The events are really fun and full of interesting people doing good work.
