Theresa Keates is a biological oceanographer turned environmental and energy policy advisor. She earned her BS in Biology from Western Washington University, then completed an MS and a PhD in Ocean Sciences at the University of California, Santa Cruz. She lives in Sacramento with her cat Mira and spends most of her free time enjoying the outdoors.
California is a major petroleum refining state. However, two refineries — Phillps 66 in Wilmington and Valero in Benicia — have announced plans to close at the end of 2025 and early 2026, respectively. Together, these refineries produce about 17 percent of the state’s gasoline supply. If both refineries close as planned, the state could … Read more
Steve Young was elected to the Benicia City Council in 2016. He was appointed Vice-Mayor from 2016-2018. In 2020, Steve was elected Mayor, and re-elected in 2024. Steve currently serves as a Board member on the Bay Area Air Quality Air Management District (BAAQMD), California Council of Governments (CALCOG), Solano County Mayor’s Committee, Solano County Water Agency (SCWA), Solano Transit (SolTrans), and Solano Transportation Authority (STA). Steve has spent 28 years in local governments, managing various projects in the fields of Community Development, Redevelopment, Affordable Housing, Neighborhood Preservation, and Economic Development in various cities in California and Virginia.
Josh Anijar has been the Executive Director of the Contra Costa Labor Council, a federation of 85 unions, since 2019. Anijar is a member of Teamsters 665. Josh started his career in Labor in 2007 at the Florida AFL-CIO as their field organizer for the West Central Florida Federation of Labor, the Central Florida AFL-CIO, the Space Coast AFL-CIO and the Volusia/Flagler Labor Council. At the end of 2010, Anijar became the Communications Director for the Florida AFL-CIO based in Tallahassee. After the 2012 election, he accepted a position with the AFL-CIO as their Senior Field Representative for California. He soon joined the AFL-CIO’s GOLD Team as their Western Region Represenative which focused on organizational restructuring and leadership development.
Elena Krieger, PhD, is Senior Director of Research and Policy at Just Solutions, a national nonprofit focused on equitable energy and climate solutions. Previously, she served as director of research at an interdisciplinary energy science and policy research institute, where she explored strategies to integrate public health, equity, affordability, resilience, and other societal benefits into energy transitions. She is a member of the second cohort of New Voices at the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, and a member of the Disadvantaged Communities Advisory Group to the California Energy Commission and California Public Utilities Commission.
California leads the nation in electric school bus adoption. These vehicles have great potential to cut air and climate pollution and save money in California communities — if they are bidirectional. Bidirectional vehicles can use vehicle-to-grid technology to send power from their batteries back to the electricity grid to prevent blackouts, which can help the … Read more
Samantha (Sam) Houston is a senior manager for the Clean Transportation program at the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS). In her role, she leads analysis and advocacy efforts to promote electric grid investments to support widespread vehicle electrification and vehicle-grid integration. She also contributes to UCS work to advance federal programs for electric vehicle charging infrastructure and federal vehicle standards.
Californians are facing soaring electricity bills and some of the most polluted air in the country. A massive rollout of bidirectional electric school buses across the state can help tackle both problems. Bidirectional electric vehicles, including school buses, can store energy in their batteries and feed it back to the grid when it’s needed most. … Read more
Margarita leads Clean Energy Works’ transportation portfolio. Trained as a chemical engineer from the Universidad Nacional de Colombia with a masters in Environmental Engineering from New Zealand and a diploma in Sustainable Development from India, Margarita has worked for more than two decades in Latin America, China, India, and the United States to reduce local air pollution and carbon emissions from transportation integrating sustainability and equity goals.
Right now, nine out of ten school buses across the country run on fossil fuels. California, however, leads the nation in electric school bus adoption, with more than 3,100 electric buses in the state. Every electric school bus provides an opportunity to cut air and climate pollution and save money in California communities. Electric school … Read more