Nathan Deer
No Party PreferenceQ1 California is rich in natural resources (i.e. oil, with California being the 7th largest oil producing state in the nation) and, as of June 2025, conserves 26.1% of its lands and 21.9% of its coastal waters. Given California’s resources, what policies would you pursue or continue, if any, in regard to land management and use?
“Our greatest natural resource is the preservation of our State’s natural beauty and ecosystems. We exist in a time of technological development where the extraction of fossil fuels is neither necessary for energy purposes, nor for consumables like plastics. The only limits in how quickly we move away from fossil fuels are the political will to do so, and pricing in the external costs of carbon emissions to encourage transitions to clean energy. I would push for additional taxes on fossil fuel extraction, distribution, and sales, to account for externalized costs. I would additionally push to wind down existing, and prohibit future drilling, while providing federal funding to conserve more land.”
KEYWORDS: No more drilling
Q2 California is one of the leading states with the most data centers which are important facilities for processing and storing data. However they also have several environmental and health impacts, such as significant water usage and noise pollution, which can lead to decrease in net economic gains. What policies, if any, do you support in managing existing data centers or establishing additional data centers?
“While moratoriums on data centers are important at this moment to constrain uncontrolled development, we should be using this time to legislate environmentally protective requirements around their construction. Specifically, all data centers should be responsible for creating self-sufficient, green (i.e. zero carbon renewables only), micro-grids, to protect ratepayers from absorbing the extra generation capacity cost. The generation capacity should be made available to the state at large during heat waves or other power crises, with de-prioritization of data center operations. On the water usage front, all cooling systems should be closed loop, with design preference given to non-water based cooling. For noise, given that most noise comes in limited frequency generation due to the cooling infrastructure, this is a prime opportunity for industrial scale, active noise cancellation.”
KEYWORDS: green, closed-loop, noise cancellation
Q3 Access to public transportation is associated with less air and noise pollution, fewer harmful chemicals, and overall healthier communities. However, many transit agencies, such as BART in the Bay Area, are facing financial deficits due to a decline in ridership. What policies, if any, do you support that would address California’s public transit infrastructure?
“My actions would fall within a framework of ridership rights:
1) The Right to Transit First infrastructure: I would push for additional federal funding for automated camera enforcement of bus lanes, the expansion of existing transit corridors, constant rail line construction (both surface and subway), Transit Ambassadors on every Muni line and BART train after 8pm, and for 24/7 operation.
2) The Right to Frequency (The 15 Minute Rule): I would leverage SB63 funds and federal operating grants to mandate a ““floor”” for frequency of no more than 15 minutes, which cannot be cut by future budget boards. Additionally, I would support federal funding for localized, electric micro-shuttles to connect lower density neighborhoods to the main BART/MUNI lines.
3) The Right to a Seamless Network: I would fight for a ““Public Transit Operating Support Act””, which would change federal law to allow MUNI and BART to use federal funds for operations and maintenance. Furthermore, our system should connect easily to the future California High Speed Rail (CHSR), enabling a commuter to take MUNI or BART to CHSR in the same way a New Yorker can get to Penn Station and get on a train to just about anywhere.”
KEYWORDS: 24/7, 15-Minute Rule, Seamless
Q4 In 2025, approximately 33% of students in K-12 schools across California met or exceeded science standards, and teacher shortages have resulted in districts hiring teachers with substandard credentials in math and science. What evidence-based policies, if any, would you follow to increase science proficiency and access to quality education across the state and why?
“Our education crisis is rooted in our affordability crisis. We don’t budget enough for teachers, so we don’t pay teachers enough, so teachers can’t afford to live where they work. If we want to attract the best teachers, we have to compete for talent by increasing funding to school systems. We also need to restore and strengthen the Department of Education, to ensure equitable access to education nationwide.”
KEYWORDS: Pay teachers more
Q5 Healthcare is an important resource to Californians, with publicly supported programs such as Medi-Cal providing coverage covering roughly half of all Californians including 14.5 million low-income residents. According to the Center on Healthcare from West Health-Gallup, California has an overall healthcare grade of “C” over the categories of cost, quality, and access, with gaps in rural health coverage, environmental health threats, workforce shortages, and affordability challenges. What policies, if any, do you support to address the healthcare of Californians and why?
“Healthcare is a human right, and everyone should have access to a nationalized, single payer health system. Beyond the moral obligation to provide coverage for everyone, under and uninsured individuals indirectly drive up costs by only seeking acute care. The lack of focus on prevention, and increased costs of emergency treatment, drive up overall costs for everyone. Additionally, private insurers innate profit incentive adds to these cost runups. So if we want to bring healthcare costs down, we need to focus on access for all, and preventative care.”
KEYWORDS: Universal healthcare, prevention
Q6 Do you support initiatives that alter funding for science research, i.e. Senate Bill 895 (California Foundation)?
“I would support initiatives, like SB895, which ensure access to funding for scientific research. In an ideal world, scientific research would be treated as the apolitical topic that it is, but the unfortunate reality is that we’ve seen significant contraction in research funding at the federal level. California deserves to remain at the forefront of research, and owes it to her residents to continue doing so.”
KEYWORDS: more research funding