[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Gershon Cohen, Ph.D.
CSAW Project Director
Earth Island Institute

The cruise industry is finally steaming into charted waters from a regulatory perspective: CSAW and the ad-hoc group Responsible Cruising in Alaska drafted and passed a statewide citizens’ initiative in Alaska in 2006, which recently resulted in Alaska issuing the nation’s first discharge permit for cruise ships. Alaska now requires independent marine engineers (Ocean Rangers) on every vessel.

CSAW helped California adopt a zero-discharge rule in 2005, and a new bill introduced by Senator Joe Simitian and sponsored by CSAW (Senate Bill 1582) to place Ocean Rangers on cruise ships in California waters is moving through the State Senate. The California Ocean Rangers will also be public safety officers, to address the high rate of rapes, assaults, robberies, and disappearances on cruise ships. Similar legislation will soon be introduced in Congress.

by wu ming [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

Well, at least for another year. The Sac Bee reports that the Assembly Water, Parks and Wildlife Committee, chaired by Yolo County's own Lois Wolk (D- Davis), just killed SB 27 until next year. The bill, sponsored by Sen. Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto) would have established a committee to build a peripheral canal diverting water around the Sacramento Delta for export south, although it called it a "conveyance" in a modest feat of bureaucratic obscurantism.

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Frank D. Russo

Every year the California Legislature hears new legislation related to the California Environmental Quality Act or CEQA. This law allows public agencies to make informed decisions about the health and environmental impacts of proposed new projects. CEQA requires public agencies to review the environmental impacts of proposed projects, and if there are significant impacts, to prepare an environmental impact report (EIR), which considers feasible alternatives and mitigation measures that would reduce adverse environmental effects. The law also gives local citizens a chance to participate in the process.

Most bills introduced in the legislature seek to streamline the CEQA process or carve out special exemptions for various types of projects. Last year, for example Senate Republicans held the state budget up trying to tie the hands of the Attorney General in enforcing this basic environmental law. This year however, SB 1165 by Senator Sheila Kuehl, seeks to strengthen the statute and actually enhance public participation

by Lucas O'Connor [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Joe Simitian
California State Senator

The local elections throughout our region last week were proof positive to anyone who needed it that folks in our area can and will engage in the political process - and in substantial numbers. The more interesting question is whether or not the public has the will and the ability to engage in the day-to-day work of governance.

As I kick off my seventh annual "There Oughta Be A Law" contest, I can tell you without a doubt that the answer is "yes."

Six years ago when I invited my constituents, by way of a contest, to submit their ideas for state legislation, I was cautiously optimistic. My experience in local government taught me that the folks I represent are active and engaged - and care deeply about the quality of life in their community.

But what I quickly discovered was that a lot of folks were truly hungry for a chance to make a difference. And it’s made me that much more determined to open up the process for public participation.

I never imagined in that first year that close to 100 local folks would take the time to craft and submit thoughtful proposals for changes in state law; or that so many of those proposals would be real contenders.

[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

As if the California Republican Party weren't in shambles already, the San Francisco Chronicle reports that the GOP's newly hired top financial officer, an Australian, was ordered deported in 2001, jailed three years later and is now suing the state for $5 million. That must inspire confidence.

A report prepared for the Schwarzenegger administration obtained by the Sacramento Bee extols the virtues of privatizing the state lottery system, which proponents say could lead to increased revenue for publiceducation. It's a risky proposition, to say the least, and it dependsupon a massive PR campaign and increase in availability of lotterytickets. Not to mention the policy is a regressive tax in disguise, aslottery users are disproportionately poor and middle class.

State Sen. Joe Simitian recently dared a computer hacker to use his plastic ID card to break into the capitol after hours. The hacker did it without a sweat. Now the Senator iscarrying legislation that would mandate security measures on themicrochips contained in government IDs, calling it a matter of basicprivacy. If it's that easy to infiltrate the state government, Simitianis probably right about the need for new law.

There's more...