Activists filled an El Dorado County Board of Supervisors meeting Tuesday, hoping to convince county leaders to recommend that the county secede from California to join the proposed new state of Jefferson. Brad Branan, Sacramento Bee:
“In messages often laced with references to revolution, Jefferson backers said California state leaders have ignored their concerns about over-regulation, gun rights, illegal immigration and other issues in rural parts of the state. They complained that leaders representing California’s heavily populated urban areas – generally Democrats – set the agenda for the entire state.
“’It’s about representation, pure and simple,’ said Mark Baird, a spokesman for the Jefferson movement. ‘We don’t have any and we need some.’”
No motion was taken and county officials say they are uncertain if they will take any action at all.
Attorney General Kamala Harris’ proposed ballot language for a new initiative that would limit taxpayer spending on public pensions is biased, charge the proposition’s backers, former San Jose mayor Chuck Reed and former San Diego Councilman Carl DeMaio. Judy Lin, Associated Press:
"’The first sentence is a repeat of the first sentence from the initiative two years ago,’ said former San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed. ‘It's been certainly poll-tested by the unions and fed to the attorney. It's inaccurate and misleading.’
“Reed and former San Diego Councilman Carl DeMaio say they will conduct a legal review of the attorney general's title and summary language before they begin collecting the 585,407 voter signatures needed to qualify for the November 2016 ballot. They said voters will want to review retirement benefit decisions made by elected officials….
“Pension reform advocates had abandoned their attempt to enable governments in California to cut future pension benefits for current workers after losing a court fight over the attorney general's legal description last year. In finding Harris' summary accurate, Sacramento County Judge Allen Sumner wrote the use of the word ‘eliminates constitutional protections’ was not false or misleading.”
Senate leader Kevin de León defended his climate change bill, currently under consideration at the capitol. If passed, the legislation would require that petroleum use in cars and trucks be halved by 2030. Chris Nichols, Capital Public Radio:
“His bill, SB 350, will require a cleaner blend of fuels, but won’t ban gasoline or force limits on driving, the senator said.
"’I’m under no illusion whatsoever that oil will be eliminated,’ de León told reporters on a conference call. ‘That’s just not a reality. It’s not going to happen in the present. It’s not going to happen in the near future or in my lifetime.’”
The drought continues to impact water policy as state regulators Wednesday mandated low-flow standards for showerheads, aiming to save billions of gallons of water per year. Dale Kasler, Sacramento Bee:
“The new standards adopted by the California Energy Commission would slash water flows by 20 percent on showerheads manufactured after next July 1. Flows would decrease an additional 10 percent on showerheads made after July 2018.
“Officials said the new standards are expected to save more than 2.4 billion gallons a year in the first year. Californians use an estimated 186 billion gallons a year showering.
“The commission adopted new standards for faucets and toilets in April, shortly after Gov. Jerry Brown issued an executive order demanding efficiencies in water usage across the state, including lower-flow appliances and a broad 25 percent cut in urban water use.”
Remember when former LA mayor Antonio Villaraigosa was said to be mulling a run against AG Kamala Harris for Senator Boxer’s seat, and then suddenly he wasn’t, and we haven’t heard anything from him since? Maybe he’s angling to be Hillary Clinton’s VP. Matt Hamilton, LA Times:
“Former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa will host a fundraiser for Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign at his newly purchased Hollywood Hills home.
“The $100-ticket event on Monday evening touts special guest Joel Benenson, the former chief pollster for Barack Obama. Clinton is not expected to attend the fundraiser, which was first detailed by the Hollywood Reporter.”
Animal poop isn’t the first thing we think of when someone says climate change, but methane is most certainly a greenhouse gas. CALmatters’ Pauline Bartolone looks at how a methane digester run by a Pennsylvania pig farmer can offset pollution generated in California.
“[The] farm is poised to receive thousands of dollars as an “offset” project through California’s cap and trade program. The carbon marketplace allows large California polluters to pay other businesses to reduce emissions instead of them. The system was set up through AB32, the California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006.
“Ideal Family Farms is one of 50 livestock projects around the country that are approved by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) to offset emissions. Not one of those state-approved offset locations is in California.”
And speaking of CALmatters, there was a nice profile of California’s new media/journalism nonprofit in USA Today. Rem Rieder:
“CALmatters, launched earlier this year under the leadership of highly regarded print journalist Gregory Favre to provide sophisticated data-driven reporting and analysis about California's government, seems to be getting off to a fast start. It published its first major report last month and received an important new grant Tuesday.
“…CALmatters issued its package on California climate change policies July 19. The material was published in four dozen newspapers, from the Los Angeles Times to the Times-Standard in Eureka, and the audio version was aired by numerous public radio outlets throughout the state.
“And on Tuesday, the Knight Foundation, a major benefactor of journalism innovation, awarded CALmatters a $250,000 grant. The largess is to support data-driven reporting, including a database for tracking every state legislator.”
Well, we’ve done it. We’ve found the greatest political campaign commercial ever made.
From The Guardian:
“Wyatt Scott, an unaffiliated candidate in British Columbia… wields a sword, slays a dragon and catches a man falling from the sky in the 60-second spot
“He soars through the air on a giant Canada goose, dispatches a dragon with two-handed sword and destroys a rampaging robot by shooting lasers from his eyes…
“Scott is running unaffiliated in in a sprawling British Columbia electoral district, or riding, east of Vancouver on a platform that promotes ‘economy, equality, and education’ as its cornerstones.
“’In this day and age you have to come up with something pretty clever to get everybody’s attention,’ Scott told the Guardian.”