• President Donald Trump announced on April 26 that he signed an executive order asking for a review of previously designated national monuments under the Antiquities Act of 1906, including the 265 million acres added by the Obama administration through what Trump called “abuse” of the monuments designation. The review would be conducted by the Department of the Interior (DOI), which is headed by Ryan Zinke, the former Montana congressman and part-time Hope Ranch resident who’s married to Santa Barbara native Lolita Hand. California has more national monuments than any other state, including San Luis Obispo County’s Carrizo National Monument, which has been designated as such since 2001. “The Antiquities Act does not give the federal government unlimited power to lock up millions of acres of land and water,” Trump said on April 26. On April 17, Zinke gave a speech at the Reagan Center in Santa Barbara where he talked about overhauling the federal government’s role in managing public land. In the past, Zinke has expressed consideration of expanding energy drilling on federal lands such as national forests and monuments. In late March, Trump signed an executive order that included a sentence directing Zinke’s DOI to review the rules that regulate oil and gas drilling in national parks.
• It didn’t take very long for California representatives to condemn President Donald Trump’s executive order calling for a review of the national monuments. Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), who is a member of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, wrote a letter along with several of the her Democratic colleagues to Trump on the same day of his executive order. “We are writing you to express our deep concern with your executive order directing the Department of the Interior to review prior national monument designations and propose changes or modify or rescind these protected lands,” the senators wrote. “During your campaign and during Secretary Zinke’s confirmation hearing, you promised to emulate President Teddy Roosevelt and his vision for conserving public lands. We request that any process for evaluating, modifying, or removing the protections for areas designated under the Antiquities Act should be conducted through an open, transparent, and public process in which all Americans can participate and provide their information and insight.” • California state Senator Hanna-Beth Jackson (D-Santa Barbara) announced on April 25 that her bill to create a specialized pro-choice license plate with proceeds going to benefit reproductive health care services in California, or Senate Bill 309, passed the Senate Transportation and Housing Committee with a vote of 10-3. “The Trump administration and Republican Congress have cut off and threaten to continue to erode critical federal funding for reproductive health care services, and we will not stand idly by and let this happen,” Jackson said in a press release. The initial cost of the optional license plate would be $50 and $40 per year thereafter to renew the plates. Proceeds from the plate will benefit the Family Planning, Access, Care, and Treatment program, which provides family planning services to 1.8 million Californians every year.
• Assemblymember Monique Limón (D-Santa Barbara) announced on April 24 that her AB 1328, a new bill that would require quarterly disclosure of chemicals used in oil and gas operations, had passed the Assembly Natural Resources Committee. Currently, oil and gas companies are required to report the chemicals used for hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” but don’t have to report chemicals used for other oil and gas operations. “It’s vital for oil companies to disclose the chemicals it uses so the state has the appropriate information to ensure California water is safe,” Limón said in a statement.
This article appears in May 4-11, 2017.