• On May 3 the California Department of Fish and Wildlife Office of Spill Prevention and Response released a report analyzing its response efforts to the Refugio Oil Spill. Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson (D-Santa Barbara) released the following statement:
“After an event as significant as last year’s Refugio oil spill, I am pleased to see that one of the primary state agencies charged with response and cleanup efforts has stepped back and considered what was done well and what could have been done better. Today’s report identifies several areas for improvement, including earlier and better communication with the community about the progress and status of response efforts, the need to better educate the public about the health dangers of attempting to clean up and rescue wildlife on their own, the critical need for more staff to care for oiled birds and mammals, and the importance of working with community organizations so volunteers can be trained in advance and mobilized to help with spills. Until we can wean ourselves off of oil, we must, unfortunately, anticipate more spills, so it’s important that we continue to work to improve the speed and effectiveness of our state’s response to such an event.”
• On May 4, Rep. Lois Capps (D-Santa Barbara) attended the Annual Older Americans Month Celebration Tea where she was honored for her years of public service. The event was organized by the Area Agency on Aging. Capps also helped present other awards for Senior Citizen of the Year, Caregiver of the Year, Senior Citizen Program, Media Advocate, Older Worker, Public Official, and Intergenerational Effort.
“I am so proud to have worked with the local Area Agency on Aging over the years,” Capps said. “It’s an honor to be recognized by our local agency, which has played a critical role in supporting older adults and people with disabilities throughout the Central Coast.”
• On May 4, Rep. Lois Capps (D-Santa Barbara) offered the following statement upon the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) release of a final rule to regulate the full scope of tobacco products, including e-cigarettes, cigars, hookah tobacco, and pipe tobacco. This decision adds these products to existing rules affecting traditional cigarettes and will help keep these products out of the hands of children.
“Today, the FDA has taken an important—and necessary—step forward to protect public health and reduce death, disease, and substantial health care costs associated with tobacco use,” Capps said. “The truth is that there are health risks involved in all forms of tobacco products and they need to be treated as such.”
This article appears in May 12-19, 2016.
