Many of us don’t take a second to think about the beauty of our planet. The environment on campus I’m surrounded by is noisy, but its something that I cherish and is something I want to preserve for a very long time.

This past week, Gov. Jerry Brown committed himself to sign two new polices passed by the state legislator. Both measures are regulations addressing climate change in the state.

First, Senate Bill 32 places new regulations to be able to bring Green House Gas (GHG) levels down by 40 percent to levels in the 1990s according to the Los Angeles Times.

The second measure from the lower house, Assembly Bill 197, will give the state legislator more oversight into the California Air Resources Board in effect to regulate the local oil refineries and manufactures.

From my personal experience, having these two measures enacted could help my community. I live in a city that has a petroleum factory in its industrial area. My sister went to high school next to a petroleum factory, breathing in the toxic fumes masked as white smoke with the striking resemblance to the clouds in the sky.

Bringing GHG emissions down serves as a benefit to not only our community, but to our state. Already, we can see the effects of climate change in this state with a lack of bettering the drought. Though these measures may seem small, and probably won’t be enough to stem the effects of climate change, it is a good step in the right direction.

Every step we take in saving our planet is not only for us, but for future generations; our nieces and nephews, cousins, siblings, and for our kids and their kids. They should be able to see what we see everyday.