Listen To California!

Two out of three California voters believe “we can have a strong economy and a clean environment at the same time.” Nearly two-thirds (63%) say environmental laws shouldn’t be used as bargaining chips in budget negotiations.

That’s according to a new poll commissioned by several environmental groups that are Sierra Club California’s allies in battling efforts to undo environmental protections.

California voters have spoken! So far, though, their voice hasn’t been heard by a minority of legislative Republicans from trying to erode these important existing laws that protect our air, our climate, our lungs and our land.

Among them: regulations that protect Californians from diesel pollution caused by dirty engines; allow affected residents to sue to stop global warming pollution; require environmental review of the sale of state lands; and prevent the use of smog-forming pesticides. Another minority-group effort would tie the hands of California air regulators in an endless loop of red tape.

Of course, governing by poll results isn’t always the best thing to do. But in a time of back-door budget blackmail, the recent poll results provide an important reminder of our democratic process.

Let’s hope they’re listening now.

Want Proof? The Sacramento Bee’s website has an actual copy of these scary budget proposals (PDF)!

See what the SF Chronicle’s “Thin Green Line” blog has to say about the poll

Read The News Today? Oh Boy!

California’s budget deadline passed over the weekend, but today’s newspaper brought worse budget news.

Republican lawmakers told the Los Angeles Times they want to put off California’s efforts to control the pollution that causes global warming, and to stop harmful diesel emissions from choking Californians, Times reporter Evan Halper wrote today. Because California must obtain GOP votes to pass the annual budget, this proposal must be dealt with before our state’s financial plan can move forward.

None of these proposed rollbacks will have an immediate effect on the more-than-$15-billion revenue gap faced by the state, Halper’s story states.

These regulations don’t just mean cleaner air, they also save lives. Air pollution causes some 24,000 early deaths each year in California, and particulate matter from diesel emissions contributes to those deaths.

California’s Global Warming Solutions Act, on the other hand, stimulates our state’s economic survival. For Californians affected by the recent economic downturn, the Global Warming Solutions Act also could mean new jobs. Venture capitalists poured $1.79 billion into the Golden State's green companies last year, accounting for 45 percent of all green investments in North America.

If this proposal sounds familiar, it’s something the Republicans first proposed in April, and we’ve been speaking out about it all this spring. Our allies in the health and labor communities have joined us in a simple message to the Legislature and governor: Don't allow our quality of life to be held hostage or traded away in budget negotiations.

-Bill Magavern, Director, Sierra Club California


See what Sierra Club California had to say about the budget plan in May

Read the California Air Resources Board’s report on the early deaths

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Halting The Republican Rollback

Sierra Club California responded with outrage today to Senate Republicans’ proposal to delay important measures that will protect California’s air and atmosphere.
Sierra Club California Director Bill Magavern made the following statement:

"Once again, these Senate Republicans are showing why they’re a minority party -- they’re so desperate to please their corporate contributors that they’re trying to roll back vital protections for our air and atmosphere that most Californians strongly support. Their proposal would further delay our state’s achieving healthy air quality by extending deadlines for cleaning up dirty diesel engines. They also propose to delay for a year the implementation of California’s Global Warming Solutions Act (AB 32), even though that law already is driving technological innovation that will fuel California’s economy. Furthermore, we are highly suspicious that when they say 'Streamline the building permitting process,' Republican leaders mean weakening safeguards that protect our quality of life from rampant over-development.

"These same reactionary senators held last year’s budget hostage in a futile attempt to roll back California’s Environmental Quality Act. They are out of touch with the governor and with the voters of all parties, who understand that cleaning up our air and water helps California’s economy."

Sierra Club California calls on both Democratic and Republican elected officials to oppose any proposals to weaken protections for public health and the environment.

Read an April 30 Sacramento Bee story about the Republicans' dangerous budget demands

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Gang of 14 Keep Moving the Goal Post on California’s Budget

In what has become the signature negotiating style of the ‘Gang of 14’ – the Senate Republicans blocking approval of the State budget – the Gang members added a new non-budget demand last night (after earlier indications that they had reached agreement). In addition to seeking to block the use of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) to mitigate global warming pollution, they now want additional language to eliminate environmental review of levee repair projects.

Holding out the approval of the budget based on these non-budget demands is just wrong. And continually adding new demands, months after the budget should have been completed, makes it impossible to reach closure on the budget.

Their most recent demand is to eliminate environmental review for levee repair projects, which is particularly ironic given that legislation signed by the Governor last year, AB 1039 (Nunez) already exempts levee repairs from CEQA, provided that the repairs are on the same footprint as the existing levee.

The Democratic Leadership is caught between a rock and a hard place – the budget needs to get approved so that the most vulnerable among us don’t suffer undue hardships, but Senator Perata et. al. need to deal with a Republican Caucus in the Senate which has handed the keys to the most extreme, recalcitrant aspects of their party.

We continue to urge Senator Perata to resist the Gang of 14’s demands for additional rollbacks of environmental protections. These demands have no place in the budget debate, especially at this late date. We hope that at least one member of the Gang of 14 comes to their senses, and decides to put the good of Californians before the desires of their campaign contributors and party zealots.

Environmentalist Pressure Removes Water Board Member

Sam Wakim with vitriolic conservative commentator Ann Coulter, at the 2004 National GOP Convention.

He’s a right-wing Republican activist who lives in the Central Valley. So what’s he doing on the North Coast Water Board?

Sam Wakim is the Chair of the Siskiyou County Republican Party and is a leading candidate to replace Doug LaMalfa in representing the Second Assembly District, which encompasses the Northern Central Valley, plus Modoc and Siskiyou counties. He was appointed to the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board in November of 2006.

Wakim currently resides in the town of Mount Shasta, and runs a dental practice in Yreka. Though he does maintain a business office that is (just barely) within the boundaries of the North Coast Water Board region, one has to wonder how you can serve on the North Coast Water Board and simultaneously seek to represent the Central Valley in the Assembly.

Residency requirements are not Wakim’s only problem. His ideological perspective comes through at Board meetings, with belittling comments such as referring to the Karuk Tribe’s sacred World Renewal Ceremony (which requires ritual cleansings in the Klamath River for 10 days) as their “little festival”, and pushing back against staff (and other Board members’) efforts to address the public health concerns of toxic algae blooms in the Klamath River system. The toxic algae blooms are among the worst in the world, exceeding World Health Organization standards by more than 100 times.






Sample driver's license from Sam Wakim's web site.





Wakim also runs his own personal blog (under the pseudonym Abu David) which provides additional insights and concerns about his politics. For example, his post lambasting Senator Gil Cedillo for carrying a bill to provide driver’s licenses to undocumented immigrants includes this intemperate mock license.

Sierra Club California opposes the confirmation of Sam Wakim’s appointment to the North Coast Water Board, which is scheduled to be heard before the Senate Rules Committee next Wednesday. We believe the Governor can, and should, do better. Though we have been quite critical of a few of Schwarzenegger’s appointments, he has generally made many quality appointments, and we are frankly perplexed at how Wakim ended up in an important environmental post.

The North Coast has many complex water quality challenges, and the public deserves a better appointment to this important seat. The Water Board should not be used as a political stepping-stone, nor as a venue for exerting right-wing ideology. We call upon the Senate to reject his confirmation, and the Governor to make an appointment better suited to represent the interests of the public on the North Coast.

UPDATE: Sam Wakim resigned on Thursday. Please see this Sacramento Bee story for more details. We look forward to working with the Schwarzenegger Administration on appropriate appointees for this and other vacant positions on the North Coast Water Board.

Gang of 14 Republican Senators Holding Budget Hostage at Behest of Oil and Developer Lobbies

Sierra Club California’s Bill Magavern speaks at August 8 press conference with Senate leaders on budget impasse and global warming.


Today I induct the new members of the California Hall of Shame. Senators Aanestad, Ackerman, Ashburn, Battin, Cogdill, Cox, Denham, Dutton, Harman, Hollingsworth, Margett, McClintock, Runner, and Wyland are holding hostage the entire budget for the state of California.

This Gang of 14 privileged white men is obstructing the funding of schools, hospitals, parks and other vital services because the oil and developer lobbies that fund their campaigns want to weaken our keystone environmental law, the
California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). Forget about the fact that this is a policy issue 8 that should be addressed through the normal legislative process -- because of California's bizarre requirement for a 2/3 majority in each house to pass a budget, blocking the budget is just about the only leverage the Republican Caucus has, so the needs of the people who depend on state services will take a backseat to the wishes of polluters.

These 14 Republican senators (their 15th colleague, Sen. Maldonado, broke with the pack and supported the budget passed by Assembly Democrats and Republicans) want to delay for years the Environmental Quality Act's application to global warming pollution. They're clearly not listening to the people of California, who, according to last month's poll by the Public Policy Institue of California, believe in large and growing numbers that it is necessary to take immediate steps to counter the effects of global warming. Eight in 10 Californians believe global warming will be a very (54%) or somewhat serious (28%) threat to California's future economy and quality of life.

Fortunately, Senate President pro tem Don Perata, backed by the entire Senate Democratic caucus, declared today that he will staunchly defend environmental quality and refuse to flinch in the face of the hostage-taking by the Gang of 14.

Bill Magavern
Senior Representative
Sierra Club California