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By Hannah Wiley and Sophia Bollag
The bee of Sacramento
Governor Gavin Newsom refused Saturday to quarrel with the Trump government, announcing he would veto a bill that would have preserved Obama's environmental policies and overturned Republican rule.
Newsom announced its opposition to Senate Bill 1 several hours after California lawmakers approved it early Saturday morning, ending a week in which the Trump government had rescinded the 2015 Pollution By-law water to protect wetlands.
"I fully support the principles that underlie Senate Bill 1: defeat the efforts of the President and Congress to undermine essential federal protections that protect clean air, clean water and clean water. species at risk, "Newsom said in a written statement. "Senate Bill 1, however, does not give the state a new power to oppose the Trump administration's environmental policies and limits its ability to rely on the best science available to protect our environment. "
The changes would have restored many environmental and workplace safety regulations created by former President Barack Obama and weakened or repealed by President Donald Trump. Trump had been targeted with a clause that would make him expire the day he would leave office in 2025 when he won a second term.
Newsom has sharply criticized the president's environmental policies and has teamed up with Attorney General Xavier Becerra to promote numerous state-level prosecutions of the Trump administration's climate policies.
Since the inauguration of Trump, the state has filed more than two dozen climate lawsuits, according to the Becerra office. The lawsuits include efforts to preserve restrictions on fossil fuel combustion plants, enforce fuel efficiency standards and uphold the Clean Water Act.
SB 1 was a legislative attempt to preserve some of the same policies.
"I acknowledge that it is an important and important step," said Law Enclaimer and Senate Speaker, Tem Toni Atkins, D-San Diego. "I think we are living in an era that requires urgent action to protect the natural resources of our state, our environment and the safety of our workers."
But in the end, the bill was excessive for some California Democrats, including Newsom and US Senator Dianne Feinstein.
Powerful farm and water groups said the bill would threaten the water-sharing agreements negotiated with the Newsom team. Representatives of Feinstein and California signed a letter last week in which they demanded favorable changes to the Central Valley.
Atkins then relaxed some of the provisions of the bill to give the state agencies additional discretion over the re-enactment of the old regulation, but the bill was always opposed prior to its vote. Saturday morning.
The California Chamber of Commerce has joined nearly 100 organizations to oppose this bill. The board said the provisions of SB 1 "unnecessarily threaten the reliability of the water supply for millions of Californians and threaten to exacerbate California's housing crisis and disrupt agricultural activities throughout the country. California ", according to the analysis of the bill.
In Saturday's debates, Republicans and Democrats in the House and Senate voted against the bill. A handful of legislators in the Central Valley protested against provisions that they said would hurt their immigrant and farmer communities. Others have accused Democrats of a veiled attack against the president.
"This bill is imposed on us for a political declaration. This is not responsible. This is not how water policy should be developed in our state, "said Assembly MP Vince Fong of R-Bakersfield. "If this bill continues, you are jeopardizing the stability of water for the entire state, as well as the economic health and well-being of each of us."
Supporters said Trump's Environmental Protection Agency had diluted protections designed to protect future generations and California's wildlife, endangering the state's natural resources and species threatened with extinction.
"The very reason for this legislation is necessary to protect our resources," said Atkins before the Senate approves the measure by a vote of 26-14.
"Maybe Democrats and Republicans disagree with political considerations," she continued. "But these issues have been debated for over 40 years in clean air, clean water, our natural resources and the Endangered Species Act. The purpose of this legislation is to maintain these protections in place. "
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