Joby Bernstein is not a seasoned politician, but the Palo Alto resident believes his energy, enthusiasm and passion for investing and tackling climate change will serve him well in his next venture: running for the Congressional seat currently occupied by Anna Eshoo.

Even before Rep. Eshoo announced last week that she will not seek another term, triggering a cascade of political speculation, Bernstein has been preparing to run for her District 16 seat. He has been talking to people around the Silicon Valley district, which includes the Midpeninsula area as well as portions of the South Bay and San Mateo County, and he has raised about $30,000 for the campaign, he said in an interview.

As a 28-year-old student at Stanford University, he doesn't have the name recognition enjoyed by veteran policymakers who have either entered the field or are expected to do so in the coming weeks. These include Santa Clara County Supervisor Joe Simitian, who announced his run on Wednesday, as well as former San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo and state Assemblyman Evan Low, both of whom are expected to officially launch their bids soon.

But Bernstein doesn't see this as a problem. An avid outdoorsman who likes to bike, backpack and run the trails, he says he has been alarmed by the damage that climate change has brought, including fires, floods and droughts. The problem needs to be addressed urgently, within the next five to 10 years. As such, he is not inclined to spend years in local and state politics before making his bid for Washington, D.C.

After stints at several climate funds, where he was mainly involved in research, he wants to bring his enthusiasm for innovation to the realm of politics.

"Climate change is an issue that I was naïve enough for a while to think that I could address on the investing and advising side," Bernstein said in an interview. "But it won't scale enough when compared to what policy can do."

Bernstein, who is currently pursuing master's degrees in business and in environmental resources at Stanford University, said his main campaign priorities will be climate change, education and immigration. This includes enhancing America's primary education and vocational schools. It also includes working on comprehensive immigration reform to make it easier for foreign-born workers to pursue the American Dream while contributing to Silicon Valley companies, he said.

A native of Westchester County in New York, Bernstein moved to California six years ago. He highlighted his prior work in public policy, including conducting research for Republican politicians in Utah and Ohio, including an internship for the recently retired Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio. While Bernstein is himself a Democrat, he said he believes there are people across the political aisle with whom he could find common ground on topics like energy efficiency and grid resilience, which are central to his climate-change platform.

He also said that he wants to bring Silicon Valley's innovation culture to Washington, D.C. The district has seen a significant transformation since Eshoo came into office three decades ago.

"It is unreal what has taken place in Silicon Valley over those 30 years," Bernstein said. "It is unmatched in the history of the world the amount of technology innovation and wealth created here.

"We need someone who will innovate. I want to be as innovative and willing to change the game in D.C. as young people have been in this district," Bernstein said.