Politics Archives

Attempts to Protect Arizona’s Groundwater and Rivers Meet Legislative Resistance

March 11, 2021/in California and the U.S., Home Headline, Media Coverage /by Chelsea Campos /Arizona Republicby Ian James

The Arizona Legislature has taken up a range of water-related measures this year, but some bills that would strengthen the state’s water rules to protect declining groundwater and desert streams have run into opposition and have failed to move forward.

Republican and Democratic legislators introduced several bills that would establish some groundwater rules in unregulated rural areas where there are no limits on pumping and where water levels are dropping.

Full Story

Colorado River Authority Bill Moves To Full Senate, Some Still Concerned About Transparency

February 26, 2021/in California and the U.S., Media Coverage /by Chelsea Campos /KUERby Lexi Peery

A Senate committee unanimously approved a bill Thursday to create Utah’s Colorado River Authority, which would be tasked with helping the state renegotiate its share of the river.

Originally the bill allowed broad reasons to close meetings and protect records. It’s since been changed twice to come more into compliance with the state’s open meeting and record laws. Critics of the bill said it’s still not enough.

Full Story

Pendulum Swings in Clean Water Act Regulation

January 13, 2021/in California and the U.S., Home Headline, Media Coverage /by Chelsea Campos /Capital Pressby Mateusz Perkouwski

The regulatory pendulum is expected to swing toward stricter Clean Water Act enforcement, though experts say the Biden administration’s changes probably won’t be immediate. Farmers and environmentalists have been in a political tug-of-war over the law’s scope for years, largely due to ambiguous legal interpretations of the statute. While Democrats will now have power over Congress, their majority is too slim to make changes to the law, said Don Parrish, the American Farm Bureau Federation’s senior director of regulatory relations.

Full Story

Nathan Fletcher Selected Chair of County Board of Supervisors

January 6, 2021/in Media Coverage, San Diego County /by Chelsea Campos /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Gary Warth

The county Board of Supervisors on Tuesday unanimously selected as their new chair Nathan Fletcher, who quickly outlined a more-progressive agenda than those followed by past boards. “As the new chair of the board, I will work tirelessly for a county with more opportunity, more fairness, more equity and more justice,” he said.

Full Story

California’s Relationship with the Animal Kingdom is Broken. Can it be Fixed?

December 21, 2020/in California and the U.S., Media Coverage /by Chelsea Campos /The Sacramento Bee

There’s an ecological crisis underway in California’s lonely corner of the American West.

Invasive grasses are causing fires to explode. Wild horses are trampling fragile habitats. Thousands of water birds are dying miserable deaths. Wolves are settling down in hostile territory.

Full Story

2020 May Be The Hottest Year On Record. Here’s The Damage It Did

December 21, 2020/in California and the U.S., Media Coverage /by Chelsea Campos /Cap Radioby Rebecca Hersher and Lauren Sommer

With just a few weeks left, 2020 is in a dead-heat tie for the hottest year on record. But whether it claims the top spot misses the point, climate scientists say. There is no shortage of disquieting statistics about what is happening to the Earth. The hottest decade on record is coming to a close, with the last five years being the hottest since 1880. 2020 is just two-hundredths of a degree cooler than 2016, the hottest year ever recorded.

Full Story

Biden Nominates Rep. Haaland to Interior, Naming First Native American Cabinet Member

December 18, 2020/in California and the U.S., Media Coverage /by Chelsea Campos /Los Angeles Timesby Anna M. Phillips

President-elect Joe Biden will nominate Deb Haaland, the freshman representative from New Mexico, to lead the Interior Department, making history by selecting the first Native American to oversee the agency that manages millions of acres of federal land and the Bureau of Indian Affairs, according to a person familiar with the decision.

Full Story

Can Biden Get an Infrastructure Deal Done Despite Capitol Hill Gridlock?

December 3, 2020/in California and the U.S., Media Coverage /by Mike Lee /Construction Dive by Joe Bousquin

Presidents Donald Trump and Barack Obama made infrastructure initiatives central goals of their administrations, as President-elect Joe Biden has similarly pledged to do, only to be stymied at delivering on those promises.

Industry watchers, politicians and public works contractors are all wondering if Biden will also hit a wall with his promised infrastructure package. The president-elect said his administration will invest $2 trillion into the economy, creating millions of jobs in infrastructure, housing, building construction and other projects.

Full Story

Opinion: California Must Bypass Water Politics and Work Toward Solutions For Our Thirsty State

December 3, 2020/in California and the U.S., Media Coverage /by Chelsea Campos /The Sacramento Beeby Robbie Hunter

California’s water wars are epic. They’ve inspired Hollywood productions and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalism. Water has been the source of both great wealth and great poverty in California. A fellow Irishman, James Mulholland, who was born around the corner from where I was and even baptized in the same church, delivered water to the City of Los Angeles with what was described as “chicanery, subterfuge … and a strategy of lies.”

Full Story

Trump Pushes New Environmental Rollbacks on Way Out the Door

November 19, 2020/in California and the U.S., Home Headline, Media Coverage /by Mike Lee /AP Newsby Matthew Brown and Ellen Knickmeyer

Down to its final weeks, the Trump administration is working to push through dozens of environmental rollbacks that could weaken century-old protections for migratory birds, expand Arctic drilling and hamstring future regulation of public health threats.

Full Story

Posts