A Pathway to Hope: Inspiring Remarks by David Hochschild to the CAPS Community

“Young people today face enormous challenges and uncertainty. What I see in CAPS is a pathway to hope — one that gives students purpose, real-world skills, and the opportunity to help shape California’s climate future.” —David Hochschild, Chair of the California Energy Commission (CEC)

CAPS was honored recently to have CEC Chair David Hochschild join us at SF Climate Week, where he co-presented alongside former CAPS intern and current Stanford student Andy Phuong, as well as CAPS board chair Mikayla Hart, CAPS co-founder Bill Kelly, and CAPS Executive Director Kirk Anne Taylor.

David has spent his career advocating for clean energy in roles spanning public service, environmental advocacy, and the private sector. In 2001, as special assistant to San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown, David launched a citywide $100 million initiative to put solar panels on public buildings. Since then, he has cofounded the Vote Solar Initiative, an advocacy organization promoting solar policies; served as executive director of a national consortium of leading solar manufacturers; and worked at a Silicon Valley solar company. In 2019, he was appointed CEC Chair by Governor Gavin Newsom. For his work to advance clean energy, he has been awarded the Sierra Club's Trailblazer Award, the American Lung Association's Clean Air Hero Award, and the U.S. Department of Energy's Million Solar Roof True Champion Award. In 2024, he was named the American Energy Society’s Person of the Year: United States. 

At the event, David enumerated the many ways the green economy is growing and succeeding across California, highlighting the state's success toward achieving 100% clean electricity by 2045. He shared examples of innovative California projects, such as the Desert Sunlight solar project and the world's largest geothermal power plant, and explained how these projects are not only leading the energy transition in California, but globally.

David is committed to supporting CAPS’ work to empower the next generation of climate leaders, like Andy Phuong, to take forward this important work with new and innovative approaches. “I am deeply impressed by the work CAPS is doing,” he said in his remarks. “This is a special organization. I recently had the chance to go to Porterville and meet the CAPS interns working there today. My takeaway? This program is changing young people's lives.” 

David recognizes the challenges facing young people today, from the mental health impacts of social media to the sociopolitical division in our country. “Young people today face enormous challenges and uncertainty,” he said. “What I see in CAPS is a pathway to hope — one that gives students purpose, real-world skills, and the opportunity to help shape California’s climate future…This is an organization we all need to lean into and lift up.” 

“This team and these students are on exactly the right path to exactly the work that most needs to be done for the future of the green economy, which is so rapidly and successfully growing in our state,” he said. “I've seen groups like this move mountains. And I believe that is what CAPS is going to do.”