Coming from the state that wanted to tax conversations, it shouldn’t be surprising that another preposterous idea has made its way into the 2019-2020 budget: taxing drinking water. The state’s new governor, Gavin Newsom, has proposed a statewide water tax that would create a “safe and affordable drinking water fund [that would] enable the State Water Resources Control Board to assist communities, particularly disadvantaged communities, in paying for the short-term and long-term costs of obtaining access to safe and affordable drinking water.”…
News
This page features excerpts from news about environmental justice advocacy in the San Joaquin Valley and links to their original sources. Use the features on the right to sort by topic, news source, date, key word or author. You may also subscribe to receive the news by e-mail or through an rss reader. Please note that links to original sources may expire over time.
The Kern County Board of Supervisors voted today to rescind approval of Alon USA Energy, Inc.’s plan to bring scores of tanker-train cars filled with explosive Bakken crude oil to the Central Valley. Today’s vote is the result of a settlement reached with Alon by local residents, environmental groups and health and safety advocates who sued to stop the company’s plan. Alon’s Crude Flexibility Project would have enabled the company’s shuttered Bakersfield refinery to reopen and unload crude from more than 200 tanker cars per day, allowing it to import up to 63.1 million barrels of crude per year…
California’s water supply is now inextricably tied up with climate change. In a warming world, nature has already brought smaller Sierra snowpacks and less predictable precipitation patterns, with periods both of drought and of flooding. Gov. Gavin Newsom, if he is to successfully steer the state into the future, has to bring to his water agenda the same steely-eyed, reality-based drive that the two previous governors brought to limiting carbon emissions…
In what is sure to be a controversial move, Gov. Gavin Newsom has proposed a tax on drinking water to help poor communities in California deal with contaminated water systems. The plan to establish a ‘safe and affordable drinking water fund” is part of Newsom’s budget proposal, according the Sacramento Bee. A similar idea was proposed last year, but it never made it through the Legislature, the Bee reported…
California Gov. Gavin Newsom proposed a statewide water tax to help disadvantaged communities obtain safe and affordable drinking water. The proposed tax was released in the new governor’s 2019 to 2020 budget proposal and aims to fund the State Water Resources Control Board to assist disadvantaged communities that lack safe drinking water…
California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) wants to tax the state’s drinking water, a move he says will allow poor people access to safe and affordable water…
In 2012, former Gov. Jerry Brown signed Assembly Bill 685, making California the first state in the nation to legally recognize the human right to water. With climate change worsening an already inequitable water system, it’s important that Gov. Gavin Newsom support legislation to ensure California realizes the promise of clean water for all…
In 2012, former Gov. Jerry Brown signed Assembly Bill 685, making California the first state in the nation to legally recognize the human right to water. With climate change worsening an already inequitable water system, it’s important that Gov. Gavin Newsom support legislation to ensure California realizes the promise of clean water for all…
The Safe and Affordable Drinking Water Fund Coalition released the following statement from Jonathan Nelson, Policy Director, Community Water Center in response to Governor Newsom’s 2019-2020 state budget proposal:…
The Fresno City Council will consider rescinding a development permit and environmental assessment for a controversial planned industrial park in southwest Fresno, following a lawsuit filed by residents concerned about environmental impacts…