Santa Monica City Councilman Terry O’Day is moving on. The environmental activist who has led Santa Monica-based Environment Now since 2003 has accepted a job with eVgo to help develop California’s electric car charging infrastructure.
O’Day made the announcement Monday night, sending out an e-mail to friends and colleagues.
“From my experience at Environment Now I take with me deep friendships and the inspiration of our indefatigable partners, who fight to protect our embattled ecosystems,” O’Day wrote in an e-mail. “I hope to report success in this transportation revolution and am confident Environment Now will continue its critical mission to protect the state’s environmental resources.”
During his tenure with Environment Now, O’Day helped found 10 “Waterkeepers,” now actively protecting over 1,000 miles of coastline. The organization also helped found Move LA and Los Angeles County’s $40 billion transit initiative, Measure R, which raised the sales tax to help fund transit projects.
O’Day is expected to start his new gig today. He will still be working in Santa Monica.
eVgo is a subsidiary of NRG Energy, a Fortune 500 company with one of the largest solar portfolios in the U.S., according to its website.
eVgo is most known for its car charging network in Houston, billed at the time as the first privately-funded plug-in electric vehicle charging network in the U.S.
O’Day, along with Councilman Bob Holbrook, recently backed a proposal to allow alternative-fuel car showrooms on the Third Street Promenade. The council voted to direct staff to study the possibility.
