Commentary: Harley Rouda gives hope to a younger generation of voters concerned about environment and equality

On Nov. 9, 2016, I failed my calculus midterm. I knew the material, but I had just witnessed the election of Donald Trump and my mind could not focus on finding the derivative of a tangent graph.

Nope, I was thinking of the future, the future my peers and I are inheriting. The future of America’s environment, our women, our bodies, our immigrants, our diplomacy, our economy, our values, our humanity and how the future which had always looked so bright to me, suddenly was replaced with an alternate, dystopian reality.

Out of that pit of despair and disillusionment emerged a person committed to harnessing all the power she has to create a world that will endure the travesty of a Trump administration.

I returned to Newport Beach from UC Berkeley in May 2017 filled with the rage and hopelessness I felt since November. I’m not a socialist, and I believe radicalism from the left and right is counterproductive.

On my quest to channel my angst productively, I got connected with the Harley Rouda for Congress campaign. Apparently this guy was a family friend whom I had never met, and he was running for Congress as a moderate Democrat in our historically Republican district. I joined the team in the early stages of the campaign, mostly doing social media work and attending events.

Throughout this time, I got to interact with and listen to Rouda. This candidate belongs in Washington. He is an imposing figure, who carries himself with confidence and, when speaking, connects with and commands the attention of a room. He’s damn near presidential.

Despite his professional disposition, Rouda, as every effective legislator should be, is extremely personable, approachable and receptive to the cares, questions and wishes of others.

Multiple times throughout the 2017-18 school year, he emailed me and the other interns, checking up on us and thanking us for our work and our activism. During the two months working on his campaign, I witnessed him making genuine connections with so many people of different ages, income brackets, races, backgrounds, identities and collecting input on how to tailor his legislative stances to those of his constituents.

The grassroots nature of his campaign foreshadows the way in which he will legislate — for his people. Not for the corporations, not for the party, not for foreign interests (cough, cough “Russiabacher”).

No, he will listen to his constituents and the 48th District’s needs. Rouda will fight for us in Congress. This is especially important regarding the environment — an issue near and dear to my heart. Rouda was recently endorsed by the Sierra Club and has made combating climate change one of his main legislative priorities. He will fight for the protection of our beautiful California coastline by advocating for stricter environmental protection laws.

He stands in strict opposition to offshore drilling projects. We can and will debate healthcare, taxes, immigration and infrastructure for years, but time is running out on our environmental debate. It’s not even a debate. It’s science, it’s facts, it’s the future of human civilization. We must protect our Earth. Protect it for the generation who could inherit a world of shortages, famines, natural disasters if current global warming deniers persist. It’s time to stop harnessing the “greatness” of the past and elect leaders who understand the vulnerability of our future.

The 48th cannot have another two years of inaction in Congress. We need action, we need common sense and we need hope. That’s why I’m voting for Rouda. He, more than any other candidate, gives me hope.

HANNAH CRANE, a graduate of Corona del Mar High School, is entering her third year at UC Berkeley.