Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Legislature Must Act to Protect Environment From Trump’s Assaults
gvw_calmatters
By CalMatters
Published 6 years ago on
June 19, 2019

Share

California is facing an unprecedented and reckless assault by the federal government on our water quality, air quality, worker safety, fish and wildlife, and public lands.


by Terry Tamminen
Special to CALmatters

Existing federal protections in those areas keep California a special place and keep Californians healthy. But those protections are threatened. Our state government is fighting back, but the past two years have revealed where state law must be strengthened.
For decades, state regulators have relied on federal protections for endangered species to meet California’s independent state legal requirement to protect imperiled species like Northern California’s spring run Chinook salmon.
However, the Trump administration is dramatically weakening federal protections for salmon and other Bay-Delta species.
State agencies deserve credit for launching an independent effort to establish new requirements to protect salmon and comply with existing state law. The problem is that federal agencies plan to ignore those new state requirements in order to deliver more Bay-Delta water to powerful San Joaquin Valley farmers in the Westlands Water District.
This would do more than harm salmon fishermen and the West Coast’s largest estuary.

Threats to Air and Water Quality, and Worker Safety

An elegant solution lies in Senate Bill 1 by Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins. That legislation that would strengthen legal requirements that the federally operated Central Valley Project comply with state environmental protections.
Affirming federal compliance with state law would do more than protect our natural resources. It would ensure equitable treatment for all California water users. Strengthening state law requiring the federal Central Valley Project to comply with California law will help protect the State Water Project and Southern California’s water supply.
SB 1 addresses similar threats to air quality, water quality and worker safety.
If it becomes law, state agencies could identify dangerous federal rollbacks and to adopt pre-rollback federal protections immediately.
This authority would not create new requirements. It would simply allow existing federal protections to remain in place while state agencies examine if and how those protections should be tailored to meet California’s needs.
Without this law, state agencies will be at risk of being overwhelmed by a tsunami of scientifically baseless federal rollbacks. And state residents and natural resources are at risk from a gap in protections that could last years, if state agencies are forced to respond to federal rollbacks on a case-by-case basis.

Unsustainable Groundwater Has Had Disastrous Impacts

A second measure, Senate Bill 307 by Sen. Richard Roth, a Democrat from Riverside, is a narrower effort to protect groundwater and precious, life-giving springs in the Mojave Desert from reckless groundwater mining.

All Californians have a stake in strengthening state law to protect our natural heritage, health and water supplies. Senate Bills 1 and 307 are important steps forward to protect California and Californians and ensure that our state remains an environmental leader.
Unsustainable groundwater pumping in the Central Valley has had disastrous impacts on ecosystems, water quality and water supply. Senate Bill would give state agencies a new tool to prevent similar disasters from being created on important public lands, including the Mojave National Preserve. This bill would protect desert bighorn sheep and other wildlife, and communities that might unknowingly invest in an unsustainable water source.
The last thing California needs is new development built on the promise of a water source that proves to be unreliable.
The U.S. Department of the Interior has cleared the way for Cadiz Inc.’s groundwater mining project by sweeping aside a past decision that would have required this unsustainable project to undergo federal environmental review before it could build its pipeline on federal lands.
SB 307 would ensure that such unsustainable water schemes don’t threaten the environment and the communities that would rely on them.
All Californians have a stake in strengthening state law to protect our natural heritage, health and water supplies. Senate Bills 1 and 307 are important steps forward to protect California and Californians and ensure that our state remains an environmental leader.
About the Author
Terry Tamminen was California Environmental Protection Agency secretary under Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, and is chief executive officer of the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation, TT@LDCFoundation.org. He wrote this commentary for CALmatters, a public interest journalism venture committed to explaining how California’s Capitol works and why it matters.

DON'T MISS

Trump Fires NSC Officials a Day After Far-Right Activist Raises Concerns to Him

DON'T MISS

China Halts Approvals for New US Investment Projects

DON'T MISS

Measles Spreads to Central Texas; 5 States Have Active Outbreaks

DON'T MISS

Trump Tariff Fears Erase $2 Trillion From US Stocks

DON'T MISS

Startup Offers Controversial Microplastic Blood Cleansing Treatment

DON'T MISS

Senate Confirms Mehmet Oz to Take Lead of Medicare and Medicaid Agency

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

Pence Will Receive the Profile in Courage Award From the JFK Library for His Actions on Jan. 6

DON'T MISS

Politics Turns Ugly for a Conservative Running for Fresno State Student Body President

DON'T MISS

Pentagon’s Watchdog to Review Hegseth’s Use of Signal App to Convey Plans for Houthi Strike

UP NEXT

Why Project Labor Agreements Are Good for Our Schools and Students: Opinion

UP NEXT

State Center Trustees Vote for Special Interest Giveaway Over Students: Opinion

UP NEXT

I Will Force Votes on Blocking Arms Sales to Israel: Sen. Bernie Sanders

UP NEXT

What Trump’s ‘Liberation Day’ Tariffs Could Mean for Americans: Fareed Zakaria

UP NEXT

Why the Nation Would Be Wise to Support a Third Term Amendment for Donald Trump

UP NEXT

If California Bails Out LA’s $1 Billion Budget Deficit, Beware the Slippery Slope

UP NEXT

Trump Has Had Enough. He Is Not Alone.

UP NEXT

The Real Crisis in California Schools Is Low Achievement, Not Cultural Conflicts

UP NEXT

Trump and Musk Are Suffering From Soros Derangement Syndrome

UP NEXT

CA Politicians Have an Irritating Habit of Ignoring the Downsides

Trump Tariff Fears Erase $2 Trillion From US Stocks

1 hour ago

Startup Offers Controversial Microplastic Blood Cleansing Treatment

1 hour ago

Senate Confirms Mehmet Oz to Take Lead of Medicare and Medicaid Agency

3 hours ago

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

4 hours ago

Pence Will Receive the Profile in Courage Award From the JFK Library for His Actions on Jan. 6

4 hours ago

Politics Turns Ugly for a Conservative Running for Fresno State Student Body President

5 hours ago

Pentagon’s Watchdog to Review Hegseth’s Use of Signal App to Convey Plans for Houthi Strike

5 hours ago

President Trump’s Tariffs Could Be the Political Tipping Point

6 hours ago

Order That Kept Water in the Kern River Reversed by 5th District Court of Appeal

6 hours ago

As Dem Candidates for Governor Increase, They Wait for Harris to Decide

6 hours ago

Trump Fires NSC Officials a Day After Far-Right Activist Raises Concerns to Him

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Thursday that he’s fired “some” White House National Security Council officials, ...

18 seconds ago

President Donald Trump speaks during an event to announce new tariffs in the Rose Garden at the White House, Wednesday, April 2, 2025, in Washington. (AP/Mark Schiefelbein)
19 seconds ago

Trump Fires NSC Officials a Day After Far-Right Activist Raises Concerns to Him

46 minutes ago

China Halts Approvals for New US Investment Projects

1 hour ago

Measles Spreads to Central Texas; 5 States Have Active Outbreaks

1 hour ago

Trump Tariff Fears Erase $2 Trillion From US Stocks

1 hour ago

Startup Offers Controversial Microplastic Blood Cleansing Treatment

Dr. Mehmet Oz, President Donald Trump's pick to lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, seated right, gives a thumbs-up alongside his wife Lisa Oz, seated left, with friends and family after he testified at his confirmation hearing before the Senate Finance Committee, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Friday, March 14, 2025. (AP/Ben Curtis)
3 hours ago

Senate Confirms Mehmet Oz to Take Lead of Medicare and Medicaid Agency

4 hours ago

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

Vice President Mike Pence hands the electoral certificate from the state of Arizona to Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., as he presides over a joint session of Congress as it convenes to count the Electoral College votes cast in November's election, at the Capitol in Washington, Jan. 6, 2021. (AP File)
4 hours ago

Pence Will Receive the Profile in Courage Award From the JFK Library for His Actions on Jan. 6

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend