Lauren Wagner and Ashna Aggarwal named finalists in the uc center sacramento stem solutions competition!
The UC Center Sacramento (UCCS) STEM Solutions in Public Policy Award Competition is an annual competition that invites graduate students across the UC system to submit policy proposals for new California legislation. SPG officers Lauren Wagner and Ashna Aggarwal were recently named as Finalists in the 2021-2022 competition. Congrats!
In their pitch, Lauren and Ashna advocate for tripling California’s annual penalty fee for idle oil and gas wells, which are drilling sites that remain inactive but unplugged for at least two years. This policy would generate more money for the state to spend on well-plugging efforts while simultaneously encouraging drilling companies to properly plug wells themselves in order to avoid the heftier fee.
As part of the competition, Lauren and Ashna took a crash course in policy advocacy on January 14th, which prepared them to pitch their proposal during meetings with staffers from CA Senator Monique Limon’s office and a representative from the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) in February!
Read more about this policy proposal competition on the UCCS STEM Solutions website, and reach out to us at uclascipolgroup@gmail.com if you’re interested in receiving support for the upcoming application cycle (proposals due June 24)!
