[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Alan Kandel

To those who say California lacks culture, I say it has the best kind. It’s called agriculture. Try taking this kind of “culture” away and then see what’s left. An entire state bereft of fruit, vegetable and cotton plants/trees and all the varied and interconnected aspects associated with the industry (e.g., processing, packing, packaging, labeling, storing, shipping, and marketing); a trade and industry that just so happens to thrive here (not to mention all the beautiful fruit tree blooms that no longer could be beheld). If that were to happen, many of the state’s towns would simply dry up, as agriculture is their lifeblood. In conjunction with this, hordes, invariably, would be filling the ranks of the unemployed. Thinking about the potential negative impact is mind-boggling. Definitely would qualify as a “domino effect” phenomenon. Fortunately, that’s not a reality. Yet, this is exactly what’s happening one acre, one parcel, one hectare at a time.

Wake-Up Call

by john nelson [courtesy of Blog for America]

As I am writing this, it is about 32 hours until the polls open in Wisconsin and a few more hours until they open in Hawaii. I believe that the next two days will prove to be THE most important days in determining who the nominee will be.

Obama supporters - we may never have this chance again. We had a chance to put the Clintons away before New Hampshire; but we came up short. We had a chance to put them away on Super Tuesday, had we won California, New Jersey and a couple other states. Again, we did well; but fell short of the knock out punch. In the next two days we have one more opportunity and if we fall short; we may never have this chance again.

For many reasons, I believe that what happens in Wisconsin and Hawaii, will have a domino effect for the rest of the campaign. If Obama wins Wisconsin and Hawaii, that momentum will carry over to Texas, Ohio and Rhode Island on March 4. We will raise more money, have more volunteers and much more energy. The Clintons will have more difficulty raising money and less energy in their campaign, and the in-fighting among campaign staff may continue. It may well lead to March 4 victories for Obama in Texas, Ohio and Rhode Island, that could be the knock out punch.

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

In the Democratic weekly radio address Assemblymember Loni Hancock , Chair of the Assembly Natural Resources Committee, and Assemblymember Alberto Torrico talk about the package of oil spill related legislation proposed this week by Assembly Democrats.

You may listen in English or Spanish or read the full transcript below:

Hello, this is Assemblymember Loni Hancock, chair of the Assembly Natural Resources Committee.

Last month, a cargo ship in the San Francisco Bay hit the Bay Bridge; 58,000 gallons of crude oil were spilled into the San Francisco Bay.

Fragile wetlands and coastlands were despoiled; more than 2,700 birds were injured or killed; and important sectors of the Bay Area economy were crippled for weeks.

While there are still many unanswered questions, we do know that the initial response to the spill was delayed, creating a domino effect on several levels.

The people of California deserve to know why this happened, and how we can prevent it from ever happening again.

Just a few weeks ago, I convened a special hearing of the Assembly Natural Resources Committee in the East Bay.

[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

Catherine Witherspoon, a former executive officer of theCalifornia Air Resources Board, has testified before the Assembly that thegovernor’s office placed undue pressure on the board to curtail its efforts tolower carbon emissions . Members of the Assembly, including Loni Hancock, thechair of the Natural Resources Committee, are now considering reforming the wayCARB officials are appointed and rules about term limits. The blatantdisrespect the governor’s administration is displaying towards those chargedwith implementing a bill he himself endorsed certainly deserves no less of aresponse. The California Progress Report provides some more reportage and in depth insight intothe hearing.

In any case, Britain has taken note of California'spioneering role in fighting climate change in the US, with the BBC praising thescope of AB 32 and its domino effect across the country. Interestingly enough,however, Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez, is quoted as being the speaker ofCalifornia's state "parliament." Would that we had one.