Action Alert: Gov. Newsom Vetoed SB1 –Ask Him To Protect People, Wildlife and Wild Places

On September 27th, Governor Gavin Newsom sided with the Trump administration and industry lobbyists when he vetoed SB 1, which would have safeguarded California’s wildlife and wild places from federal efforts to dismantle bedrock environmental laws. SB 1 was passed by the California senate and assembly in a recent attempt to prevent the federal rollbacks of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA), the Clean Water Act, the Clean Air Act, the Federal Safe Drinking Water Act, the Federal Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, the federal Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 and the federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act of 1969. Beginning in 2017, the Trump Administration has launched a series of challenges to these federal laws and the protections they have provided for decades.

Agricultural water districts and wealthy farming interests have spent endless resources to lobby against SB1, because it would have required the Central Valley Project to comply with the Endangered Species Act – a requirement that would have prevented big ag from taking too much water from the Bay Delta ecosystem and Northern California’s rivers, which could result in lethal temperatures in these watersheds where endangered salmon are already on the brink of extinction.

Please take a moment to personalize the form below below and send Governor Newsom a message expressing your disappointment in his actions of putting industry before endangered species, the environment and communities.

Vetoing SB1 Was a Big Mistake!

Dear Governor Newsom,

I am disappointed that you chose to side with industry lobbyists and the Trump Administration by vetoing SB1, which puts the environment, endangered species and the health and safety of people at risk. With the impending threat of climate change and mass extinction at our heels, it is essential that our environment and communities are safeguarded from unfettered industry attempts to dismantle the ecosystems that we all depend on in favor of their own corporate profits.

The people in the state of California are counting on you and the State to protect communities, wildlife and wild places from federal assaults. With the federal rollbacks of most of our bedrock environmental laws including the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA), the Clean Water Act, the Clean Air Act, the Federal Safe Drinking Water Act, the Federal Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, the federal Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 and the federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act of 1969; how will you ensure that our environment and communities will be protected?

During a time when we are already feeling the effects of climate change and witnessing mass extinction, we are counting on you to represent the most environmentally progressive state in the union and ensure that we continue to make strides toward a sustainable future.

Moving forward, it is imperative while negotiations ensue to regulate projects such as water pumping in the delta, that you represent your constituency by securing for protections for endangered fish and wildlife, vulnerable ecosystems and the communities that depend on them.

Sincerely,