As founder and director of the California Coastal Protection Network and co-founder of Vote the Coast, Susan Jordan is recognized in Santa Barbara, Ventura County and statewide for her advocacy on behalf of environmental causes – protecting our water, our air and our coastline.
She’s written and advocated for legislation and forged valuable connections with environmental leaders across the state, with members of Congress, the California Senate and Assembly and across party lines. Susan has worked with local communities up and down the state to stop illegal projects that threaten our coastal resources and our vibrant tourist and marine economy. And she has won numerous major battles against powerful special interests because of her intelligence, integrity, work ethic and attention to detail.
Susan led the successful fight against the secretive and poorly-conceived PXP oil deal, which would have opened up our coastline for new oil drilling. Susan and her husband, Assemblymember Pedro Nava, showed the courage to stand up for what they believed in, even though many friends and the establishment interests were on the other side.
This is what the Sierra Club California said about Susan Jordan’s successful efforts to stop the PXP deal:
“Rather than just accepting the popular slogans that this deal would end oil production along this part of the coast, Susan dug into the details, where she found serious problems — problems that were confirmed many months later by the Attorney General and State Lands legal counsel. While it would have been easier politically to ignore the problems and go along with popular opinion, that also would have been a tremendous failure in leadership.”
Susan, bottom left, worked with Pierce and Keely Brosnan, Jane Seymour, Ted Danson, Daryl Hannah, Cindy Crawford, Dick Van Dyke and other Malibu residents to stop an LNG terminal from being anchored in waters off the coast.
And when the Halaco facility in Oxnard continued to illegally pollute the Ormond Beach wetlands, Susan helped to bring a halt to their operation in court. Declared a High Priority Superfund site by the EPA in 2007, Susan continues to work for the cleanup of the Halaco site and the restoration and preservation of the Ormond Beach Wetlands.
In recognition of the special nature of the Gaviota coast, Susan has long supported the efforts of local groups to protect and preserve this unique stretch of coastline.
Susan’s leadership on environmental issues extends statewide.
In 1996, Susan co-founded Vote the Coast, the first Political Action Committee in California devoted to bringing coastal protection issues to the forefront of electoral politics. Vote the Coast was credited with helping Democrats retake control of the State Assembly in 1996 from a Republican majority led by then-Speaker Curt Pringle.
Over the last 15 years, Susan has worked on large-scale, precedent setting coastal issues including federal offshore oil leasing, liquefied natural gas terminal siting, navy sonar testing, protection of the Hearst Ranch and the San Simeon coastline, Crystal Cove State Park restoration, restoration of the Bolsa Chica and Ormond Beach wetlands, clean up of the Halaco facility and regulatory compliance for the San Onofre nuclear generating station.
Susan speaks at a Capitol press conference calling for legislation to establish LNG siting standards.
Susan is a proven leader in the movement toward renewable energy sources and away from dependence on fossil fuels, a finite and highly polluting energy source. Susan supports forward-thinking public policy which will move us beyond reliance on the energy policies of the past and reward those whose innovation in renewable and clean energy sources can help our planet be a livable place for future generations.
When the State of California was ready to commit its energy future to the import of liquefied natural gas (LNG), a polluting fossil fuel, Susan brought together more than 30 environmental groups in a statewide stakeholder process that included meetings with then-EPA Secretary Terry Tamminen and Resources Secretary Mike Chrisman. Over the next four and a half years, Susan forced the state to reevaluate its move to dependence on LNG and in doing so helped shift the focus away from fossil fuels to renewable energy.
Susan has been an effective advocate for key strategic environmental laws, including ground-breaking legislation on coastal land use regulation (SB 497-Sher) and LNG siting standards (SB 426-Simitian, SB 412-Simitian).
Susan is committed to the protection of state parks for the people of California. When the state park at Crystal Cove was threatened by the development of a private luxury resort development on public land, Susan led the opposition and preserved the public’s access to this coastal treasure.
When the governor threatened to close 100 state parks and supported the construction of a toll road through one of California’s most treasured state parks at San Onofre State Beach, Susan successfully led the fight against the destruction of the park, a decision that was later upheld by the Bush administration.
Susan believes that good economic policy and a healthy environment go hand in hand.
As our State Assemblymember, she will lead the effort to create and attract green jobs and economic growth consistent with neighborhoods and the natural environment of Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties.
Susan is the recipient of numerous awards for her work including the NOAA Walter B. Jones, Volunteer of the Year Award, 1997; The Environment Now, Wells Family Award For Coastal Protection Protection, 1999; The Santa Barbara Channelkeeper Coastal Protection Award, 2002; The Earth Charter, Ventura Chapter, Ecological Integrity Award, 2005; The Environmental Defense Center, Environmental Hero Award, 2006; and the Environment Now Foundation’s Top Environmental Achievement For 2008.
We need an Assemblymember who is not afraid to stand up for clean water, clean air and a healthy environment – no matter how powerful her opponents are. We need to elect Susan Jordan, a true environmental champion.
