Newsom, Democrats and MAGA Republicans Unite to Pass Bill Gutting Landmark Environmental Law

Sacramento —  As expected, California Governor Gavin Newsom, who has cozied up to the likes of far-right wing influencers like Charlie Kirk, Steven Bannon and Michael Savage in his podcasts, on Monday evening signed legislation that will eviscerate a landmark environmental law, the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).

Under intense pressure from Newsom, the California legislature passed two trailer bills, AB/SB 131, and 130, that will undermine the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and halt cost-saving energy code updates statewide, according to Sierra Club California.

On yesterday evening, Senate President pro Tempore Mike McGuire, Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas and other legislative leaders joined Newsom at the State Capitol as Newsom signed the legislation. 

Governor Newsom claimed the legislation is “a landmark budget bill package that cuts red tape, fast-tracks housing and infrastructure, and improves affordability for all Californians.”  

“This isn’t just a budget. This is a budget that builds. It proves what’s possible when we govern with urgency, with clarity, and with a belief in abundance over scarcity,” Newsom gushed.

“In addition to the legislature, I thank the many housing, labor, and environmental leaders who heeded my call and came together around a common goal — to build more housing, faster and create strong affordable pathways for every Californian. Today’s bill is a game changer, which will be felt for generations to come,” Newsom claimed.

Here’s what actually happened: the corporate Democratic Governor, the Democrats and MAGA Republicans united to lay waste to a law that is supposed to protect California rivers, bays, land and the entire state from devastation by rapacious development corporations and Big Ag and Big Oil billionaires. 

The controversial budget bills exempt nine types of projects from CEQA environmental reviews, including child care centers, health clinics, food banks, farmworker housing, broadband, wildfire prevention and water infrastructure. The key word here is “water infrastructure.”

In other words, the bills will exempt environmentally destructive and salmon-killing projects like the Governor’s two pet water projects, the Delta Tunnel and Sites Reservoir, from environmental review under CEQA. In addition, the bill will exempt high tech manufacturing plants from CEQA review.

If built, the Delta Tunnel and Sites Reservoir would hasten the extinction of spring and winter-run Chinook salmon, Delta and longfin smelt, Central Valley steelhead, green sturgeon and other imperiled fish species, according to independent scientists and tunnel opponents. And this all takes place as Delta smelt are functionally extinct in the wild and the San Francisco Bay-Delta ecosystem is in its worst ever crisis, due to the export of Delta water to corporate agribusiness interests in the San Joaquin Valley and abysmal water management policies by the state and federal governments.

Representatives of environmental groups blasted the passage of the budget trailer bills.  

“These half-baked bills written behind closed doors will have destructive consequences for environmental justice communities and endangered species across California,” said Jakob Evans, Sierra Club California Senior Policy Strategist, in a statement.

"AB/SB 131 and 130 will undermine vital CEQA regulations and halt crucial statewide energy code savings. It is extremely disappointing that California’s leadership is taking notes from the Federal Administration by ramming through this deregulation via the budget process. Sierra Club California and our allies will be working closely with the legislature to ensure these rollbacks that impact CEQA's transparency are addressed,” Evans vowed. 

It was a “loss for California’s wildlife and transparent decision making as the legislature passed and the Governor signed one of the worst rollbacks of the state’s environmental review law in decades,” according to the Alameda Creek Alliance.

“The claim that this is for housing and childcare centers is a diversion - it will allow developers and water diverters to hide damaging impacts from public scrutiny and limit challenges to projects that destroy wildlife habitat,” the group stated.   

Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, Executive Director of Restore the Delta, summed up what happened.

”On Monday June 30th, California lawmakers approved a budget trailer bill that significantly alters CEQA, exempting certain types of projects from environmental review—including water infrastructure,” she said in a statement to those who worked hard on trying to stop the legislation.

“Thank you to all of our members, partners and supporters who showed up to advocate for the Delta and against the Delta Tunnel. While the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) trailer bill did pass with the state budget, your calls and emails made a difference. Lawmakers have now committed to working on amendments that address the concerns we raised,” she stated. 

“Your voices made a difference. This is proof that when we speak up together, our elected officials listen. Please continue to make your voices heard and ensure these amendments are made to explicitly exclude the Delta Conveyance Project from CEQA reform,” Barrigan-Parrilla added.

“We need and expect good governance in California and your voices of support will help ensure we have transparency, public participation, and accountability. Again, thank you to all who called, emailed and advocated against the Tunnel to protect our community. This is how you build a sustainable future, idea by idea, call by call!” she concluded.   

Unlike most corporate and "alternative" media, I tell the truth, based on facts and data, on the Trump-like attacks by Newsom on fish, the Bay-Delta ecosystem, tribal rights, environmental justice communities and the people of California.   

Rarely will you see in the mainstream media the real issue here: deep regulatory capture. In other words, follow the money.

Newsom’s push for the Delta Tunnel, Sites Reservoir and his “voluntary agreements” is undoubtedly driven by the unpopular fact that Beverly Hills Billionaires Linda and Stewart Resnick, owners of the Wonderful Company and the largest orchard fruit growers in the world, are among the largest contributors to Governor Newsom and hosted his 2022 anti-recall campaign in a fundraising letter.

The Resnicks have donated a total of $431,600 to Governor Gavin Newsom since 2018, including $250,000 to Stop The Republican Recall Of Governor Newsom and $64,800 to Newsom For California Governor 2022.

Newsom received a total of $755,198 in donations from agribusiness in the 2018 election cycle, based on the data from www.followthemoney.org. That figure includes a combined $116,800 from Stewart and Lynda Resnick and $58,400 from E.J. Gallo, combined with $579,998 in the agriculture donations category.

But the Resnicks are also huge contributors to the University of California system and other universities in the state. In 2019 they made a donation of $750 million to Caltech and in 2022 made a $50 million donation to UC Davis, in addition to contributing millions to UCLA, CSU Fresno and other universities over the years.  

The Resnicks have pushed for increased water exports from the Delta for agribusiness and the construction of the Delta Tunnel for many years.

The Resnicks have donated many millions of dollars to both the Democratic and Republican parties and to candidates for both parties over the years. They were instrumental in the creation of the Monterey Amendment, a 1994 pact between Department of Water Resources and State Water Project contractors, that allowed them to obtain their 57 percent stake in the Kern Water Bank: https://www.watereducation.org/aquapedia/monterey-amendment