In recognition of Earth Day, Assemblyman Das Williams, D-Santa Barbara, appears in a special video to encourage people to participate in Earth Day events and celebrate our natural surroundings.

Williams joins Assemblymen Ian Calderon, D-Whittier, and Al Muratsuchi, D-Torrance, in a short video.

The three are members of the California Assembly’s unofficial “Surf Caucus.” In the video, the three ride the waves in Ventura County and discuss their love of California’s 1,100 miles of coastline.

Williams talks about the role the ocean played in his life growing up in Isla Vista and Ventura County.

“I got to go out into the ocean even though I grew up pretty poor,” Williams says in the video. “I got to go out here and have what a lot of people don’t have and I felt very blessed by that. It made me feel from a very early age that it was a sacred responsibility to protect the beauty and the sanctity of our environment and I am really proud that I have that opportunity to do that in the state legislature for the people of Ventura and Santa Barbara counties.”

“My father taught me how and I’ll teach my children how to surf because it is so much a part of our culture here,” Williams said. “It taught me so much. It taught me about life. It taught me about God. It taught me how to be calm and patient in the face of adversity and how to be an honorable human being, and of course, those are the kinds of things we want to teach our next generation.”

Williams will appear at Earth Day events in Ventura and Ojai on Saturday and in Santa Barbara on Sunday.

— Josh Molina is a communications specialist for Assemblyman Das Williams.