I came into the world the year the modern environmental movement was born. It seems prescient now, and perhaps it was, to be born just a few miles away in the wake of the largest oil spill in U.S. waters.
In retrospect, the tragedy that inspired the dawning of the environmental movement, seems be the genesis of my personal journey from environmental activist to elected official. I am not alone in that arc, as the unprecedented oil spill off the coast of Santa Barbara was a call to action for many and continues to be.