A fight with Trump that Gavin Newsom doesn’t want: Why he’s vetoing environmental bill [Sacramento Bee]
Gov. Gavin Newsom took considerable political heat over the weekend from a pair of unlikely sources — the environmental community and Democratic lawmakers. Both were angered over his pledge Saturday to veto Senate Bill 1, a proposal that they say would have protected California’s waterways and fish against the Trump administration….Yet Newsom saw SB 1 as a mortal threat to something he’s been supporting since shortly before he took office: a tentative truce in California’s longstanding water wars. The truce revolves around the flow of water in and out of the Delta from California’s most important river systems, the Sacramento and San Joaquin.
https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article235144122.html
Editorial: Newsom on wrong side of environmental bill [San Francisco Chronicle]
…While it is true that the Central Valley Project has followed state law through past administrations, Republican and Democratic alike, there is no guarantee that the Trump administration will continue to do so — not with his intent to rewrite the Endangered Species Act, and his open contempt for fisheries protection as expressed in a 2016 campaign rally in Fresno in which he suggested farmers were being victimized by “insane” policies in which regulators were “shoving the water out to sea.” This is not just about fish versus people. It’s about preventing a water grab….The governor needs to take a fresh look at SB1 — and sign it into law.
Opinion: Veto SB1 to embrace progress rather than chaining state to a dysfunctional past: Mike Wade [Los Angeles Daily News]
…Senate Bill 1 was essentially a choice between adopting new science and collaborative ways of managing our water, or our outdated system that has overseen the decline of threatened and endangered species and diminished water supply reliability for the Southland, farmers, and the San Francisco Bay Area. The existing system has worked for no one – and yet SB 1 sought to lock it into law, essentially calling a halt to the Voluntary Agreements….And, with all water users working together on the VAs, these agreements will provide an alternative to the endless lawsuits that were expected if SB 1 was signed into law.
As harvest season ramps up, Napa wineries mindful of carbon dioxide poisoning [Napa Valley Register]
Harvest season isn’t just a hectic time for winemakers in the Napa Valley. It’s also a busy stretch for wine country safety consultants, including Nicol Cadet-Cottam of Nicola Health and Safety. Among the major safety concerns for wineries is the possibility that workers could pass out in confined spaces, such as wine storage tanks or presses. The state requires workers to receive training in this area….Carbon dioxide is released during the wine fermentation process and can render people unconscious, safety experts say. Workers rarely pass out, but deaths can occur.
Missed phone calls, changing stories: How E. coli spread at the San Diego County Fair [San Diego Union-Tribune]
More than 1.1 million people had already passed through the gates of the San Diego County Fair this summer by the time an E. coli outbreak forced the closure of all animal exhibits and rides. News that a 2-year-old boy had died after picking up the particularly nasty infection, which was also contracted by three other children with animal contact at the fair, stirred alarm within the community….Hundreds of emails and other documents obtained through Public Records Act requests show that, while the public health team was able to move quickly, more frequent county case reviews, a more modern medical records system and more prompt and accurate responses from families with infected children might have gotten the investigation started days earlier.
Opinion: Something special is happening in rural America [New York Times]
…The nation’s most populous cities, the bicoastal pillars of aspiration — New York City and Los Angeles — are experiencing population declines, most likely driven by unaffordability. Other metros are experiencing growth, to be sure, especially in the South and West. But there is an exodus afoot that suggests a national homecoming, across generations, to less bustling spaces….The future of rural is intertwined with suburban and urban outcomes by way of food production, natural resources, the economy, political movements and beyond. We need policymakers who understand this (and care about it).
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/17/opinion/rural-america.html?searchResultPosition=1
