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Viewpoint: Wildfires Should be California’s No. 1 Priority When it Comes to Climate Change

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Viewpoint: Wildfires Should be California’s No. 1 Priority When it Comes to Climate Change


In an Govt Order dated September 25, California Gov. Gavin Newsom directed all companies of state authorities to double down on their efforts to deal with local weather change. The governor, state companies and the Legislature are spending billions of {dollars} in efforts to deal with local weather change. Many of those efforts, together with eliminating fossil fuels, banning the sale gasoline powered automobiles and vans, and mandating all electrical properties, are nice for these that may afford them. Nonetheless, with the very best poverty and homeless price within the county, these proposals lead to a regressive tax on these residents with low and average incomes.

Public policymakers in California ought to as an alternative focus their efforts and price range {dollars} on the prevention of catastrophic wildfires. Wildfires are the most important risk to accelerating injury from local weather change. Since 2017, wildfires within the state have burnt greater than 10 million acres, resulted in over 50 deaths, burned over 30,000 constructions, threatened the habitats of protected species, worn out total cities, and uncovered tens of millions of residents to the risks of smoke stuffed air.

John Norwood

A current examine by researchers at UCLA and the College of Chicago discovered that the 2020 wildfires alone launched almost 140 million tons of carbon dioxide into the air. That’s almost as a lot greenhouse gasoline emissions as all of the passenger automobiles in California generate in a typical 12 months. Put one other method: Between 2003 and 2019, by way of quite a lot of measures, California managed to scale back annual carbon emissions by 71 million tons. The 2020 wildfire emissions alone doubled that determine. When you embrace wildfire emissions from the key wildfire years 2017-2022, it is vitally seemingly that each one of California’s greenhouse gasoline emission reductions have been greater than worn out by wildfire emissions.

Given these numbers, one would suppose the state policymakers could be focusing their local weather change efforts and price range allocations on the prevention of wildfires. In any case, roughly 30 million properties in California are in low to excessive vulnerability to wildfires. Greater than three-quarters-of-a-million properties are in excessive wildfire areas and these properties have an estimated alternative value of greater than $220 billion {dollars}. Property insurers in California are decreasing their threat profiles or fleeing the state leaving householders with a restricted marketplace for householders and hearth insurance coverage.

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Sadly, this isn’t the case. The state has allotted billions of its price range {dollars} to fireplace suppression, firefighting tools, know-how, and extra firefighters, however little cash has been allotted to forest upkeep and hearth prevention. In actual fact, prevention of catastrophic wildfires doesn’t make the highest 5 price range gadgets of the governor and the legislature within the final legislative session.

In accordance with current projections launched by the non-profit First Avenue Basis, the variety of California properties going through extreme wildfire threat will develop six-fold over the subsequent 30 years when strictly contemplating the impression of local weather change.

Any method you take a look at it, the chance of catastrophic wildfires in California is immense. There are nonetheless 160 million useless bushes within the forests. The city interface and brush areas all through the state are overgrown and dried out because of the ongoing drought. The forests and foothills are overgrown with too many bushes which, not solely exacerbates the drought, however weakens the bushes and make them extra vulnerable to an infection and loss of life by beetle bark bugs.

In hindsight, it may be argued that California is making the identical mistake that the federal authorities made within the early 1900s when, after 4 million acres of the West had been burned, the choice was made to fund hearth suppression somewhat than spend cash on forest resiliency. Even the place cash has been allotted to stopping fires and forest resiliency the state has not made large progress in these areas.

In an intensive article revealed by Capitol Radio revealed in June of 2022, former Cal Hearth head Richard Wilson bemoaned the states fumbling of key hearth prevention work in recent times. For instance, the governor has tasked Cal Hearth with preforming 500,000 acres of forest administration and hearth prevention on lands which might be privately owned or managed by the state. Solely a fraction of that work has been performed.

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The dearth of considerable hearth prevention and forest resiliency work within the state signifies that California will proceed to be topic to catastrophic wildfires 12 months after 12 months. These fires will seemingly proceed offset all of the greenhouse gasoline emission financial savings the state will obtain from instituting local weather change mandates like eliminating gasoline powered automobiles and vans, taking away pure gasoline stoves and HVAC methods, and going to all electrical properties. As a substitute, the Governor and the Legislature ought to prioritize and fund hearth prevention and forest resiliency efforts as no less than a Prime 5 price range merchandise.

Norwood with Norwood Associates is a lobbyist who represents insurance coverage brokers, wholesalers and carriers in Sacramento. He earned his Juris Doctorate from the College of the Pacific, McGeorge Faculty of Regulation and is an energetic member of the California State Bar.

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Caitlyn Jenner says she'd 'destroy' Kamala Harris in hypothetical race to be CA gov

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Caitlyn Jenner says she'd 'destroy' Kamala Harris in hypothetical race to be CA gov


Caitlyn Jenner, the gold-medal Olympian-turned reality TV personality, is considering another run for Governor of California. This time, she says, if she were to go up against Vice President Kamala Harris, she would “destroy her.” 

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Jenner, who publicly came out as transgender nearly 10 years ago, made a foray into politics when she ran as a Republican during the recall election that attempted to unseat Gov. Gavin Newsom in 2021. Jenner only received one percent of the vote and was not considered a serious candidate. 

Jenner posted this week on social media that she’s having conversations with “many people” and hopes to have an announcement soon about whether she will run. 

Caitlyn Jenner speaks at the 4th annual Womens March LA: Women Rising at Pershing Square on January 18, 2020 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Chelsea Guglielmino/Getty Images)

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She has also posted in Trumpian-style all caps: “MAKE CA GREAT AGAIN!”

As for VP Harris, she has not indicated any future plans for when she leaves office. However, a recent poll suggests Harris would have a sizable advantage should she decide to run in 2026. At that point, Newsom cannot run again because of term limits. 

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If Jenner decides to run and wins, it would mark the nation and state’s first transgender governor.  



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Northern California 6-year-old, parents hailed as heroes for saving woman who crashed into canal

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Northern California 6-year-old, parents hailed as heroes for saving woman who crashed into canal


LIVE OAK — A six-year-old and her parents are being called heroes by a Northern California community for jumping into a canal to save a 75-year-old woman who drove off the road. 

It happened on Larkin Road near Paseo Avenue in the Sutter County community of Live Oak on Monday. 

“I just about lost her, but I didn’t,” said Terry Carpenter, husband of the woman who was rescued. “We got more chances.” 

Terry said his wife of 33 years, Robin Carpenter, is the love of his life and soulmate. He is grateful he has been granted more time to spend with her after she survived her car crashing off a two-lane road and overturning into a canal. 

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“She’s doing really well,” Terry said. “No broken bones, praise the Lord.” 

It is what some call a miracle that could have had a much different outcome without a family of good Samaritans. 

“Her lips were purple,” said Ashley Martin, who helped rescue the woman. “There wasn’t a breath at all. I was scared.” 

Martin and her husband, Cyle Johnson, are being hailed heroes by the Live Oak community for jumping into the canal, cutting Robin out of her seat belt and pulling her head above water until first responders arrived. 

“She was literally submerged underwater,” Martin said. “She had a back brace on. Apparently, she just had back surgery. So, I grabbed her brace from down below and I flipped her upward just in a quick motion to get her out of that water.” 

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The couple said the real hero was their six-year-old daughter, Cayleigh Johnson. 

“It was scary,” Cayleigh said. “So the car was going like this, and it just went boom, right into the ditch.” 

Cayleigh was playing outside and screamed for her parents who were inside the house near the canal.

I spoke with Robin from her hospital bed over the phone who told us she is in a lot of pain but grateful.

“The thing I can remember is I started falling asleep and then I was going over the bump and I went into the ditch and that’s all I remember,” Robin said. 

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It was a split-second decision for a family who firefighters said helped save a stranger’s life. 

“It’s pretty unique that someone would jump in and help somebody that they don’t even know,” said Battalion Chief for Sutter County Fire Richard Epperson. 

Robin is hopeful that she will be released from the hospital on Wednesday in time to be home for Thanksgiving. 

“She gets Thanksgiving and Christmas now with her family and grandkids,” Martin said. 

Terry and Robin are looking forward to eventually meeting the family who helped save Robin’s life. The family expressed the same feelings about meeting the woman they helped when she is out of the hospital. 

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“I can’t wait for my baby to get home,” Terry said. 



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California may exclude Tesla from EV rebate program

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California may exclude Tesla from EV rebate program


California Gov. Gavin Newsom may exclude Tesla and other automakers from an electric vehicle (EV) rebate program if the incoming Trump administration scraps a federal tax credit for electric car purchases.

Newsom proposed creating a new version of the state’s Clean Vehicle Rebate Program, which was phased out in 2023 after funding more than 594,000 vehicles and saving more than 456 million gallons of fuel, the governor’s office said in a news release on Monday.

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“Consumers continue to prove the skeptics wrong – zero-emission vehicles are here to stay,” Newsom said in a statement. “We’re not turning back on a clean transportation future – we’re going to make it more affordable for people to drive vehicles that don’t pollute.”

The proposed rebates would be funded with money from the state’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, which is funded by polluters under the state’s cap-and-trade program, the governor’s office said. Officials did not say how much the program would cost or save consumers.

NEBRASKA AG LAUNCHES ASSAULT AGAINST CALIFORNIA’S ELECTRIC VEHICLE PUSH

California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday proposed creating a new version of the state’s Clean Vehicle Rebate Program if the incoming Trump administration scraps a federal tax credit for electric car purchases. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images, File / Getty Images)

They would also include changes to promote innovation and competition in the zero-emission vehicles market – changes that could prevent automakers like Tesla from qualifying for the rebates.

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Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who relocated Tesla’s corporate headquarters from California to Texas in 2021, responded to the possibility of having Tesla EVs left out of the program.

Tesla automobile plugged in and charging a Supercharger rapid battery charging station for the electric vehicle company Tesla Motors, in the Silicon Valley town of Mountain View, California, August 24, 2016.

Tesla and other automakers may not qualify for the proposed tax credits, according to the governor’s office. (Getty Images, File / Getty Images)

“Even though Tesla is the only company who manufactures their EVs in California! This is insane,” Musk wrote on X, which he also owns.

BENTLEY PUSHES BACK ALL-EV LINEUP TIMELINE TO 2035

Those buying or leasing Tesla vehicles accounted for about 42% of the state’s rebates, The Associated Press reported, citing data from the California Air Resources Board.

Newsom’s office told Fox Business Digital that the proposal is intended to foster market competition, and any potential market cap is subject to negotiation with the state Legislature. 

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“Under a potential market cap, and depending on what the cap is, there’s a possibility that Tesla and other automakers could be excluded,” the governor’s office said. “But that’s again subject to negotiations with the legislature.”

Newsom’s office noted that such market caps have been part of rebate programs since George W. Bush’s administration in 2005.

Democrat California Gov. Gavin Newsom

Newsom has pushed Californians to replace gas-powered vehicles with zero-emission vehicles. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images / Getty Images)

Federal tax credits for EVs are currently worth up to $7,500 for new zero-emission vehicles. President-elect Trump has previously vowed to end the credit.

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California has surpassed 2 million zero-emission vehicles sold, according to the governor’s office. The state, however, could face a $2 billion budget deficit next year, Reuters reported, citing a non-partisan legislative estimate released last week.

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