Jerry
Brown wants to expand use of fire fee [Sacramento Bee]
Gov.
Jerry Brown wants to expand how the state can spend new fire fee proceeds,
while Republican legislators want to kill the charge entirely. In a series of
proposals, GOP lawmakers and the Democratic governor are jockeying over ways to
change the controversial $150 annual fee on 825,000 properties mostly located
in rural areas….Brown posted a bill proposal online last week that would allow
the state to spend fire fees beyond where fee payers live. His bill would
"additionally include fire projects in areas that immediately threaten
state responsibility areas."…Sen. Ted Gaines, R-Rocklin, has proposed
three bills. His first, Senate Bill 17, would eliminate the fee entirely. A
second bill, SB 125, would exempt property owners who already pay local fire
agencies for protection. A third bill, SB 147, would exempt property owners
with household income below 200 percent of the federal poverty level.
House
G.O.P. open to residency for illegal immigrants [New York Times]
House
Republicans on Tuesday staked out what they cast as a middle-ground option in the
debate over immigration, pushing an approach that could include legal residency
but not a path to citizenship — as their Democratic counterparts favor — for
the 11 million illegal immigrants already in the country. Republicans also
signaled that they are open to the idea of breaking immigration legislation
into several smaller bills, which would allow them to deal with the question of
highly skilled workers, as well as a farmworker program, without addressing
what Democrats and immigration advocates say is the larger issue of potential
citizenship. Immigration advocates favor a comprehensive measure to enable them
to use elements that have bipartisan backing to build support for broader
legislation. At a House Judiciary Committee hearing exploring an overhaul of
the immigration system — the first of several such hearings expected in the
House — Representative Robert W. Goodlatte, Republican of Virginia and chairman
of the committee, tried to frame what he called the question of the day: “Are
there options that we should consider between the extremes of mass deportation
and a pathway to citizenship for those not lawfully present in the United
States?”
Ethanol
mandate target of repeal effort [San Francisco Chronicle]
An
unusual coalition has been formed in Washington in an attempt to kill a
creature of Washington: corn ethanol. The oil industry, environmentalists,
taxpayer groups, livestock growers and foreign aid groups all want Congress to
repeal the mandate requiring a 15 percent blend of ethanol in gasoline, after a
federal court upheld the rule last week….California Democrat Dianne Feinstein
teamed with Oklahoma Republican Tom Coburn in a successful Senate vote to kill
off ethanol subsidies a year and a half ago. But that effort left major federal
assistance in the mandated blending of ethanol into gasoline, which the Obama
Environmental Protection Agency increased from 10 to 15 percent….Poultry and
other livestock farmers say they are getting crushed by higher feed costs. Tom
Elam of FarmEcon, representing poultry producers, said feed costs have more
than doubled, raising the price of chicken and driving poultry farmers to
bankruptcy.
Obama
taps REI chief Sally Jewell for Interior secretary [Reuters]
Sally
Jewell, a retail executive and outdoor enthusiast, is President Barack Obama's
pick to oversee the national parks and vast energy reserves on public lands as
Interior secretary, an administration official said on Wednesday. Jewell is the
first woman tapped to join Obama's second-term Cabinet, which has been
criticized as lacking diversity. Her private sector experience, most recently
as chief executive of outdoor retailer REI, drew praise from conservationists
and some industry groups, but Jewell's nomination drew skepticism from some
Republicans in Congress.
Warming
bringing big changes to forests [Associated Press]
Big
changes are in store for the nation's forests as global warming increases
wildfires and insect infestations, and generates more frequent floods and
droughts, the U.S. Department of Agriculture warns in a report released
Tuesday. The compilation of more than 1,000 scientific studies is part of the
National Climate Assessment and will serve as a roadmap for managing national
forests across the country in coming years. It says the area burned by
wildfires is expected to at least double over the next 25 years, and insect
infestations often will affect more land per year than fires.
DWP
seeks truce in water wars as L.A. Aqueduct nears 100 [Los Angeles Times]
…DWP
is on a campaign to settle three of the most bitter water wars in the Owens
Valley before celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Los Angeles Aqueduct in
November with a gala at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. If all goes according to
plan, legal disputes over water rights with 40 Acres, the Mammoth Community
Water District and at Rush Creek, a major tributary to Mono Lake, will be
resolved by summer, DWP officials said.…Water wars have defined the 110-mile
Owens Valley since the early 1900s, when Los Angeles city agents posed as
ranchers and farmers to buy land in the area and obtain the water rights. Their
goal was to build the aqueduct system needed to meet the needs of the growing
metropolis 200 miles to the south. Middle ground between the parties has been
hard to find since.
Ag
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