Madera, Merced farm bureaus blast high-speed rail on eve of Fresno groundbreaking [Fresno Bee]
The
Madera and Merced county farm bureaus allege that the California High-Speed
Rail Authority is falling short of its responsibilities under a legal
settlement stemming from the organizations’ lawsuits over the Merced-Fresno
portion of the statewide bullet-train route. The notice of default, in a letter
from the farm bureaus’ attorney Jason Holder to the rail agency, came on the
eve of Tuesday’s formal groundbreaking for the initial construction of the
controversial project.…Among the key provisions of the April 2013 settlement
was a requirement that the rail authority make up for the loss of farmland to
the railroad right of way by providing permanent preservation of
similar-quality farmland elsewhere in the region. The authority was also to
offer to buy any leftover parcels under 20 acres when the rail line divides an
owner’s property. Monday’s notice asserts five specific violations of the
settlement, by either the rail authority or its right-of-way contractors,
related to appraising and buying the property it wants for the right of way:
Gov. Jerry Brown wants
investment in California roads [Sacramento Bee]
With
the bipartisan water bond accord in their rear-view, California Gov. Jerry
Brown implored lawmakers Monday to come together and begin the costly task of
repairing the state’s crumbling roads. Brown said following passage of the $7.5
billion water bond that it’s equally important for the state to deal with its
long-standing road and highway challenges. California faces $59 billion in
deferred road maintenance, and the price tag to meet the state’s long-term
transportation needs is significantly higher….Republicans said they support
large-scale road repairs, but questioned Brown’s emphasis on the $68 billion
high-speed rail project.
California Gov. Brown
proposes ambitious new climate policy goals [Bloomberg News]
California
Gov. Jerry Brown (D) Jan. 5 proposed increasing the state's current 33 percent
renewable portfolio standard to 50 percent over the next 15 years and, over the
same period, cutting petroleum use in cars and trucks in half, making heating
fuels cleaner and doubling the efficiency of existing buildings. Brown announced
the ambitious climate policy goals in the inaugural address/state of the state
message he delivered after being sworn in for an unprecedented fourth
term….California is on track to meeting its 2020 goal of deriving one-third of
its electricity from renewable sources, he said. The state also is set to
achieve the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 (A.B. 32) target of limiting
greenhouse gases to 431 million tons by 2020, Brown said….Methane, black carbon
and other potent greenhouse gases also must be reduced, he said. Plus, the
state “must manage farm and rangelands, forest and wetlands so they can store
carbon,” Brown said.
OID to consider plan to
pay farmers to fallow pastures [Modesto Bee]
Plans
to fallow more than 1,100 acres of Oakdale farmland so the water saved can be
sold to out-of-county buyers for about $1.6 million will be considered Tuesday
by the Oakdale Irrigation District. The proposed water sale could provide a
financial windfall for some landowners, who could collect up to $1.52 million
in cash incentives and funds to improve their private properties….According to
OID, 33 people who own 1,106 acres of primarily pastures have filed forms
indicating interest in participating in the fallowing program.…The estimated
4,000 acre-feet of saved water would be sold for $400 per acre-foot. Exactly
who would buy the water has not been made public, but OID’s board has been
negotiating behind closed doors with the Westlands Water District, the Stockton
East Water District and other water contractors.
Shasta County
supervisors may seek tweaks to Eiler Fire restoration plan [Redding Record
Searchlight]
Shasta
County supervisors today may ask the Forest Service to expand its salvage and
reforestation plans in areas burned by the Eiler Fire earlier this year. On the
board’s agenda for possible actions are two letters in response to proposals
from the Lassen National Forest for work on public lands burned during the
Eiler and Bald fires in eastern Shasta County.…The draft letters commend the
Forest Service’s work on the restoration plans for both fires, but calls on it
to do additional salvage work in the Thousand Lakes Wilderness area burned by
the Eiler Fire. “The current plan is to only do hazard tree felling (in that
area),” the draft letter notes. “It is apparent the lack of management in
Thousand Lakes was a large contributing factor to the severity of the Eiler
Fire.”
After ban on beef from
Europe, U.S. gives green light to Ireland [New York Times]
Irish
beef will be the first from Europe to be sold in the United States in almost 16
years, after the lifting of a ban that had stemmed from an outbreak of mad cow
disease in the late 1990s. The United States had agreed to lift the ban last
year, and Ireland is the first European country since then to have met the requirements
ensuring its beef was safe….United States authorities imposed the ban over
health fears during an epidemic across Europe in the late 1990s that led to
mass culling of cattle herds.…Beef prices in the United States have risen in
recent years as a result of droughts and higher feed prices. Australia is a
leading exporter of beef to the United States, although most of that meat comes
from industrial feed lots — not the open-pasture beef that many Irish farms
produce.
Ag
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