[env-trinity] Governor Brown Launches Attack On CA Environmental Quality Act, Coastal Act (Revised)

[Dan Bacher]

http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/7/4/1545002/-Governor-Brown-Launches-Attack-On-CA-Environmental-Quality-Act-Coastal-Act


Photo of Jerry Brown by Dan Bacher.



Governor Brown Launches Attack On CA Environmental Quality Act,  
Coastal Act

by Dan Bacher

Jerry Brown, routinely portrayed as a “green governor” and “climate  
leader” by the mainstream  media, has launched yet another attack on  
the state’s environmental laws and openness and transparency in  
government.

That’s right — the governor is aiming to eviscerate landmark laws that  
protect the public's right to know about the environmental and public  
health impacts of large development projects in this legislative land  
grab by developers.

Brown’s latest gambit, expressed in Trailer Bill 707, would allow  
housing developments “by right.” “That means the projects could occur  
without disclosing environmental impacts about the development, and  
without going through certain local permitting,” said Kyle Jones,  
policy advocate for Sierra Club California.

“Transparency and full disclosure before projects are approved are  
among the few tools everyday Californians have to make sure air and  
water pollution created by new projects is minimized and mitigated.  
Responsible developers report that allowing the public to know what's  
going on in advance helps improve projects,” Jones stated.

Jones said “Irresponsible developers” have spent years trying to  
dismantle the disclosure and permitting process.

Besides being opposed by environmental groups, Trailer Bill 707 is  
also strongly opposed by Tenants Together and other tenant rights  
organizations in California. They say the current proposal would have  
“huge negative impacts  on low-income tenants, workers, and the  
environment.”

Tenants Together and member organizations have identified several ways  
the Governor's By-Right Development proposal could harm renters.  
According to Tenants Together, the Governor's proposal would:

Increase development of market-rate housing without additional tenant  
protections against displacement;
Bypass community benefits agreements process where community groups  
are able to get developers to build more affordable housing;
Lead to potential demolition of rent-controlled homes because projects  
would bypass the public approval process.
In addition to this being a bad bill, the process used to push this  
bill through the Legislature shows the disdain that Governor Brown and  
his developer buddies have for openness and transparency in government.

“Trailer bills are pieces of legislation that change policy as part of  
the budget process," explained Kyle Jones. “That means that these  
bills do not go through various policy committees necessary to vet  
legislation, and can fly under the public's radar.” (www.citywatchla.com/ 
...

In June, the California Budget Conference Committee postponed hearing  
Trailer Bill 707--"By-Right Development," so we still have time to  
stop this developer land grab. We can’t let Governor Brown ignore the  
value of the public's right to be a part of the process of  
environmental review.

Take action to oppose the proposal as it stands by signing on to this  
petition.

Brown’s latest attack on CEQA and the Coastal Act must be seen in  
light of Brown’s overall poor environmental record. Even his  
grandstanding on “climate change” and “green energy” that he gets so  
much undeserved credit for is based on environmentally unjust carbon  
trading and REDD policies.

Background: Brown’s real environmental “legacy exposed

Jerry Brown’s record on fish, wildlife, water and the environment has  
been deplorable since he started his third term in January 2011, but  
you wouldn’t know it, judging by the often fawning coverage Brown  
receives from mainstream media and much of the “alternative” media.

The Governor’s “legacy project,” the Delta Tunnels/California Water  
Fix, poses a huge threat to the ecosystems of the Sacramento, San  
Joaquin, Klamath and Trinity river systems, but it’s not the only  
environmentally devastating policy promoted by Governor Jerry Brown.

Brown is promoting the expansion of fracking and extreme oil  
extraction methods in California and is overseeing water policies that  
are driving winter run-Chinook salmon, Delta and longfin smelt and  
other species closer and closer to extinction.

As if those examples of Brown’s tainted environmental legacy weren’t  
bad enough, Brown has promoted carbon trading and REDD policies that  
pose an enormous threat to Indigenous Peoples around the globe; has  
done nothing to stop clearcutting of forests by Sierra-Pacific and  
other timber companies; presided over record water exports from the  
Delta in 2011; and oversaw massive fish kills of Sacramento splittail  
and other species in 2011.

Jerry Brown also oversaw the “completion” of so-called “marine  
protected areas” under the privately funded Marine Life Protection Act  
(MLPA) Initiative, overseen by a Big Oil lobbyist and other corporate  
interests, in December 2012. These faux “Yosemites of the Sea” fail to  
protect the ocean from oil drilling, fracking, pollution, corporate  
aquaculture and all human impacts on the ocean other than sustainable  
fishing and gathering.

Brown spouts “green” rhetoric when he flies off to climate conferences  
and issues proclamations about John Muir Day and Earth Day, but his  
actions and policies regarding fish, water and the environment are  
among the worst of any Governor in recent California history.

For more information about the real environmental record of Governor  
JerryBrown, go to: www.dailykos.com/...
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