CONTACT INFORMATION:

For state-level issues and state trends:

Kimberly Larson

Deputy Political Director
State PIRGs
(206) 357-1788
(213) 251-3680 x323

For federal issues:
Elizabeth Hitchcock

Communications Director
U.S. PIRG
(202) 546-9707

Dan Jacobson
Legislative Director, Environment California
(916) 446-8062 ext. 105 ·

Expertise:  water pollution, genetically engineered foods, food safety, transportation, offshore oil drilling, auto pollution/diesel, polluter subsidies/green taxes, Superfund/brownfields, sprawl/open space, wilderness/forests, public lands, endangered species, ocean protection/sustainable fishing, urban planning

Background:  Mr. Jacobson coordinates policy development, research, and legislative advocacy for Environment California.  Based in Sacramento, he leads the organization’s policy agenda and advocates before the state legislature.  Mr. Jacobson led efforts to pass the California Clean Energy Act, the strongest renewable energy law in the country, which requires the state's investor-owned utilities to generate at least 20 percent of their electricity from clean sources such as wind or solar by the year 2017.  Mr. Jacobson also helped pass the Clean Water Enforcement Act of 1999, an enormous victory for California's waterways that established mandatory minimum fines for violators of the state's clean water laws.  He has authored several reports, including "Three Strikes and You Profit: A CALPIRG Study of Clean Water Enforcement in California," and testified before the state legislature on preservation and clean air issues.  He has appeared on The O’Reilly Factor on the Fox News Channel, and has been featured in The Los Angeles Times, The San Francisco Chronicle, and The Sacramento Bee.  Mr. Jacobson serves on the board of the Clean Power Campaign. Prior to moving to California, Mr. Jacobson served as the Program Director for Florida PIRG, where he advocated protecting Florida's coast from oil drilling.

Mr. Jacobson is also the Policy Director for the Environment California Research & Policy Center, the 501(c)(3) sister organization of Environment California.

Education:  B.A., Franklin and Marshall College, 1988

Note: Environment California became the home of CALPIRG's environmental work in 2003. Click here to contact a spokesperson from CALPIRG on consumer issues.

Find An Issue Expert