Last week CLCV asked our members to email Governor Brown to urge him not to trade the environmental protections of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) for budget votes. We had heard that a group of Republicans were holding the budget hostage and asking for the gutting of CEQA as the ransom.
We are incensed by this proposal, and judging from the response from our membership, we’re not alone. Not only did nearly 500 people send emails to the Governor, but many of them personalized their emails, telling Governor Brown how CEQA has benefited them and their communities. We wanted to share their stories and several advocates graciously agreed to allow us to do this.
Here are some of their letters (emphasis added):
“I am writing to urge you to protect the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) during budget negotiations. There is a 2500 home/100+ acre industrial development proposed for 740 acres of farmland floodplain in Camarillo, CA. Currently in the draft EIR formation stage we are counting on the CEQA process to help us vet this project and analyze it’s impacts. Citizens groups such as ours need the substantiated “back up” CEQA provides. Please reject any effort to use the closed-door budget process to extract major concessions to the public health, safety and environmental safeguards in CEQA.”
– Merrill Berge, Camarillo Sustainable Growth
“By now, the Republicans seem to believe that they can demand any action, no matter how cruel, crazy, or destructive, and the Democrats will just give way. You can stop this. We believe in you. Please protect the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) during budget negotiations. It’s enraging that these Republican state senators want to destroy CEQA in exchange for their votes on the budget. I myself have relied on CEQA in responding to local environmental challenges. Without it, how can we respond to corporate bottom-line driven decisions that could destroy neighborhoods and communities? Please reject any effort to use the closed-door budget process to extract major concessions to the public health, safety and environmental safeguards in CEQA.”
– Sarah Stone
“I am writing to urge you to protect the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) during budget negotiations. I am very familiar with CEQA, having used it as a citizen to oppose projects and having defended it as a UC administrator. It is not a perfect law, but it has done a good job of forcing public agencies to consider environmental issues and its mere existence has probably kept some bad projects from going beyond the conceptual stage. It is reprehensible that some Rs are using it as hostage.”
– Christopher Adams
“I am writing to urge you to protect the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) during budget negotiations. I was alarmed to hear that five Republican state Senators are demanding the gutting of CEQA in exchange for their votes on the budget. CEQA, our state’s flagship environmental law, was voted into law over 40 years ago in order to give all citizens a voice in what happens to their communities. For decades, CEQA has helped to keep major decisions over how to use local land at the local level—where the impacts are the greatest. Please reject any effort to use the closed-door budget process to extract major concessions to the public health, safety and environmental safeguards in CEQA. It is highly important to continue to protect and even strengthen environmental laws. The environment is the base of us all. If the environment is not healthy we will fall and so will our economy. We must protect CEQA and other laws that protect the environment. It is a big short-sighted mistake to use a so called budget crisis to destroy CEQA, which the people have fought so hard for. The so called budget crisis should never be an excuse to pollute and destroy the environment. With more efficient green technology the economy will improve. Don’t panic and destroy environmental laws. Raise taxes on the rich and corporations, especially the oil companies instead.”
– Barbara Beth
“An economic crisis is not a reason to stop protecting the environment we live in. Clean air, safe water, and allowing those most affected by that environment the means to protect it should not be thrown out to get agreement to allow the people to decide how the economic crisis is dealt with. You must know that most Californians support those protections that the CEQA gives and would vote to retain those protections if given the choice. To allow 5 republicans to gut environmental protections before they will agree to do the right thing economically is submitting to blackmail. This is NOT the way to restore fiscal responsibility and voter trust to government. Please reject any effort to use the closed-door budget process to extract major concessions to the public health, safety and environmental safeguards in CEQA.”
– Suzan Syrett
“I am writing to urge you to protect the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) during budget negotiations. The one responsibility of local government is to protect the individual from the over-zealous pursuit of corporate profits at the expense of the community. To sacrifice our environment, clean air and clean water for the singular benefit of increased profits to corporations is a detriment to all, and in the end will not generate profits. Please do not allow our environment to be held hostage to the politicians benefiting from corporate donations and lobbying!”
– Mike Lubliner
“I’m IN the development community and I oppose any attempt to weaken CEQA. Please reject any effort to use the closed-door budget process to extract major concessions to the public health, safety and environmental safeguards in CEQA.”
– Joe McNeil, Consulting Arborist
“I am writing to urge you to protect the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) during budget negotiations. I was alarmed to hear that five Republican state Senators are demanding the gutting of CEQA in exchange for their votes on the budget. As a state worker, having a budget is very important to me. However, I am unwilling to trade our State’s flagship environmental law to achieve this end. I am urging you to stand firm on the budget AND our environmental laws. CEQA, our state’s flagship environmental law, was voted into law over 40 years ago in order to give all citizens a voice in what happens to their communities. For decades, CEQA has helped to keep major decisions over how to use local land at the local level—where the impacts are the greatest. Please reject any effort to use the closed-door budget process to extract major concessions to the public health, safety and environmental safeguards in CEQA.”
– RP
“As a Building Trades leader, I am writing to urge you to protect the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) during budget negotiations. It is outrageous that Republican state Senators are demanding the gutting of CEQA in exchange for their votes on the budget. This is to benefit their corporate sponsors, not our communities.”
– Aram Hodess
If you’re as inspired as I was after reading these letters, please take a couple minutes to write to Jerry Brown to urge him to protect CEQA and not to trade it away for budget votes. And if you’ve taken action already – thank you!
