Breaking News Pacific Palisades currently under an evacuation order due to the fast-moving, wind-driven fire | Update: LAPD has @ Least One Arsonist In Custody

[LurkerSix]

Newsom Signs Key Agricultural Bills, Brings New Regulations for Central Valley Farmers - Valley Ag Voice

By Natalie Willis, Reporter, Valley Ag Voice Governor Gavin Newsom finalized decisions on key agricultural bills on Sept. 30, bringing a fresh wave of regulation to Central Valley farmers. Newsom signed 1,017 bills and vetoed 189. Of these bills, several with a direct impact on California...

www.valleyagvoice.com

He approves bills to fine farmers and vetoes bills to increase water supply/deregulate community water systems and wetlands.

40% of Cali land is agriculture. Ironically in the past few years farmers experiencing drought, thus contributing to less production, had the same complaint against newsom, not enough water.

Do some companies abuse resources and environment? Absolutely. But that's not what's driving the fires. And even if it was, there should've been better legislation than slaps on the wrist and more done to increase water supply. It still falls on the hands of leadership, who are not powerless.

I'm not really following some of yalls outrage. You say its politicans, which I agree with, but your talking points all begin and end with you blaming just Newsom and the LA mayor. No one else ever gets mentioned & this has been since day 1 of the fires. It just sounds like the same recycled conservative podcast bro talking points all across social media.

They've been warning about the over use of water from agriculture for years (before Newsom)& these same farmers fought everything to have them cut back. Now the chickens have come home to roost and they wanna finger point to other people.

From the article you linked:

Newsom signed Assembly Bill 460 into law which imposes higher penalties for violations of curtailment orders.

Introduced by Democratic Assemblymembers Rebecca Bauer-Kahan, AB 460 increases curtailment order violation fines up to $10,000 per day and $2,500 for each day in which a violation of a cease-and-desist order occurs.

According to Ag Council, which removed opposition after amendments were made to remove provisions that would have expanded the SWB’s authority, the bill now focuses on penalizing bad actors.

AB 460 will take effect in 2025.

Sounds like they could only get the increase in fines passed because opposition would of blocked everything if State Water Resources Control Board got more power like they planned originally. This was passed in October 2024 and wouldnt go into power till this year.

As for his veto'd part

SB 366 would have required DWR to coordinate with the SWB, California Water Commission, and other agencies to develop a plan that addresses the state’s water needs in the long term. It would have established specific targets to be met as well as a budget plan to appropriately reach those targets. In doing so, the bill sought to create nine million-acre-feet of additional water supply by 2040.

Even If it passed.... that project wouldnt of even gotten started yet. This article was written in Oct. 2024, and the goals were to have this all done by 2040, like come on.

And his reasoning for vetoing it makes sense

Newsom vetoed SB 366 on Sept. 25 due to the costs it would impose on state agencies.
“While I appreciate the author’s intent, this bill would create substantial ongoing costs for DWR, the State Water Resources Control Board, and other state agencies and departments to assist in the development of water supply planning targets,” Newsom’s veto letter stated. “A revision to the Plan of this magnitude, that creates such significant costs, must be considered in the context of the annual budget.”

Thus, while the Governor approved to increase the financial burden on farmers with AB 460, he determined that raising the costs for state agencies imposing that financial burden was not ideal.

Cali is literally tens of billions in the red rn, who would of paid for this? And if he would of sought to raise taxes, yall would of screamed angrily about that. He veto'd the bill and said it needs a revision.

 

[LurkerSix]

So that one chick was a POS cuz she was in Africa when the fires started, lets see if they keep the same energy for the entire Cali GOP visiting Trump for dinner & pics during the disaster.

California Republicans Flee To Trump's Mar-a-Lago Amid LA Wildfires | Houston's BIN 1320

A group of California Republican lawmakers opted to join President-elect Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago over the weekend as the Los Angeles wildfires continue to devastate the city.

houston.binnews.com

With the exception of David Valadao, who voted to impeach Trump after the January 6 Capitol Riots, the California House Delegation, including Representatives Jay Obernolte, Tom McClintock, Kevin Kiley, Doug LaMalfa, Darrell Issa, Ken Calvert, Vince Fong, and Young Kim, were all pictured with the president-elect over the weekend, per MeidasTouch News.

 

[ChicagoFigure]

I'm not really following some of yalls outrage. You say its politicans, which I agree with, but your talking points all begin and end with you blaming just Newsom and the LA mayor. No one else ever gets mentioned & this has been since day 1 of the fires. It just sounds like the same recycled conservative podcast bro talking points all across social media.

Anyone who is responsible should be held accountable. Not just the governor, not just the mayor. This just got kicked off bc I responded to a post about Newsom, doesn't mean I think he's the only problem.

They've been warning about the over use of water from agriculture for years (before Newsom)& these same farmers fought everything to have them cut back. Now the chickens have come home to roost and they wanna finger point to other people.

From the article you linked:

Sounds like they could only get the increase in fines passed because opposition would of blocked everything if State Water Resources Control Board got more power like they planned originally. This was passed in October 2024 and wouldnt go into power till this year.

Agriculture is the largest consumption of water GLOBALLY not just in California. In Cali the droughts are the reason farmers are asked to cut down usage and the SGMA was passed to enforce it. The plan was to have farmers cut down usage by up to 80% by 2040. So while farmers still use up most of the water (as they always have) yes, they still over use, but their consumption has been trending toward the SGMA goal anyway. My point isn't that farmers aren't over using water, my point is I doubt that is the main reason for the response failure.

Regardless, if the state knew this was an issue they could have mitigated work arounds not just do the blame game shit other ppl are being accused of doing.

Even If it passed.... that project wouldnt of even gotten started yet. This article was written in Oct. 2024, and the goals were to have this all done by 2040, like come on.

[/QUOTE]
I posted an article from his first year in office where he completed only a fraction of wildfire prevention he set out to do and had no comment when he was pressed. Whether or not the project was set to begin next year or 10 yrs from now he clearly was not prioritizing it enough which has been evident his entire term.

And his reasoning for vetoing it makes sense

Cali is literally tens of billions in the red rn, who would of paid for this? And if he would of sought to raise taxes, yall would of screamed angrily about that. He veto'd the bill and said it needs a revision.

Cali is the most regulated state in America. They already tax ppl to death which is why ppl complain. And so u would think if they're one of the highest taxes they should probably have enough water in their fire hydrants, do more for wildfire prevention or not let their reservoirs stay empty for almost a year for repair....for starters.

 

[LurkerSix]

Lawsuits claims utility's equipment sparked devastating Eaton Fire, but investigation still ongoing

A lawsuit filed against Southern California Edison claims the utility’s equipment sparked the deadly Eaton Fire burning just outside Los Angeles.

apnews.com

 

[LurkerSix]

Anyone who is responsible should be held accountable. Not just the governor, not just the mayor. This just got kicked off bc I responded to a post about Newsom, doesn't mean I think he's the only problem.


Agriculture is the largest consumption of water GLOBALLY not just in California. In Cali the droughts are the reason farmers are asked to cut down usage and the SGMA was passed to enforce it. The plan was to have farmers cut down usage by up to 80% by 2040. So while farmers still use up most of the water (as they always have) yes, they still over use, but their consumption has been trending toward the SGMA goal anyway. My point isn't that farmers aren't over using water, my point is I doubt that is the main reason for the response failure.

Regardless, if the state knew this was an issue they could have mitigated work arounds not just do the blame game shit other ppl are being accused of doing.

I posted an article from his first year in office where he completed only a fraction of wildfire prevention he set out to do and had no comment when he was pressed. Whether or not the project was set to begin next year or 10 yrs from now he clearly was not prioritizing it enough which has been evident his entire term.


Cali is the most regulated state in America. They already tax ppl to death which is why ppl complain. And so u would think if they're one of the highest taxes they should probably have enough water in their fire hydrants, do more for wildfire prevention or not let their reservoirs stay empty for almost a year for repair....for starters.
[/QUOTE]

I didnt see a link to said article in this thread.

What response failure? The largest wildfire in the states history broke out, not a few house fires. They mobilized thousands of firefighters trying to contain a wildfire aided by hurricane force winds. How do you expect them to put it in a day?

Already address the hydrate issue numerous times, but some people keep ignoring it. And should reservoirs not be repaired? They were in contracted negotiations to get it done and the whole reason they had to do that was cause the water got contaminated....

 

[mike030270]

 

[LurkerSix]

Starting to really notice some goal posts being subtly moved... Figured I'd add this before we see posts about it, even tho i know yall hate reading idc

Fact-checking misinformation about the Los Angeles wildfires and California water policy

President-elect Donald Trump and some social media users and pundits blamed Los Angeles’ deadly fires on California Gov. Gavin Newsom, saying the Democrat’s environmental policies enabled the blazes’ danger and wreckage.

www.pbs.org

Trump misleads about California water policy​

Trump, in a Jan. 8 Truth Social post, blamed Newsom’s management for the water issues, and said Newsom had refused to allow “beautiful, clean, fresh water to flow into California.”

“Governor Gavin (Newsom) refused to sign the water restoration declaration put before him that would have allowed millions of gallons of water, from excess rain and snow melt from the North, to flow daily into many parts of California, including the areas that are currently burning in a virtually apocalyptic way,” Trump said. “He wanted to protect an essentially worthless fish called a smelt, by giving it less water (it didn’t work!), but didn’t care about the people of California. Now the ultimate price is being paid.”

Trump’s posts seemed to blame the water constraints on statewide water management plans that capture rain and snow as it flows from Northern California. But experts said those plans would not have affected the fire response.

Southern California has plenty of water stored, said Mark Gold, the water scarcity solutions director at the Natural Resources Defense Council and a Southern California Metropolitan Water District board member.

The local water shortages happened because the city’s infrastructure wasn’t designed to respond to a fire as large as the one that broke out in the Palisades and elsewhere, experts said.

“It doesn’t matter what’s going on at the Bay-Delta or the Colorado (River) or Eastern Sierra right now,” Gold said. “We have all this water in storage right now. The problem is, when you look at something like firefighting, it’s a more localized issue on where your water is. Do you have adequate local storage?”

Trump’s reference to a “water restoration declaration” that Newsom refused to sign is puzzling, as such a document does not appear to exist. Newsom’s press team said on social media, “There is no such document as the water restoration declaration – that is pure fiction.”

Trump’s transition team did not immediately respond to an email asking for clarification; after publication, a Trump spokesperson emailed PolitiFact referring to a plan from Trump’s first term that would have directed more water from the federal Central Valley Project to farmers in the San Joaquin Valley.

Newsom and then-California Attorney General Xavier Becerra sued the Trump administration over the plan, which they said violated protections for endangered species, including Chinook salmon and Delta smelt — a slender, 2- to 3-inch fish that is considered endangered under California’s Endangered Species Act.

But here’s the kink in Trump’s logic: The Central Valley Project provides no water to Los Angeles. The regional water district receives some water from the State Water Project, which also collects water from the Delta-Bay area and shares some reservoirs and infrastructure with the Central Valley Project. But most of the extra water from Trump’s plan would have been sent to the San Joaquin Valley, and it’s wrong to connect water management further north to the firefighting challenges in Los Angeles.

The local water system failed because the city’s infrastructure was built to respond to routine structure fires, not massive wildfires across multiple neighborhoods, experts told us. Ann Jeffers, a University of Michigan civil and environmental engineering professor who studies fire engineering, said she doesn’t know of any industry standard for designing city water supplies to fight the kind of fire that erupted in the Palisades.
Dryness and high winds meant that “these fire events would be likely to exceed a given design basis, if one even existed,” Jeffers said. Chris Field, a Stanford University professor and climate scientist, said climate change worsens these conditions.

Three main water tanks near the Palisades, each holding about 1 million gallons, were filled in preparation of the fire because of dangerous weather. The tanks were all depleted by 3 a.m. on Jan. 8, Los Angeles Department of Water and Power CEO and Chief Engineer Janisse Quiñones said during a Jan. 8 press conference. Although water continued to flow to the affected areas, demand for water rose faster than the system could deliver it.

“There’s water in the trunk line, it just cannot get up the hill, because we cannot fill the tanks fast enough,” Quiñones said. “And we cannot lower the amount of water that we provide to the fire department in order to supply the tanks, because we’re balancing firefighting with water.”

A reservoir near the Pacific Palisades that is part of the city’s water supply had been closed for repairs when the fires broke out which may have slowed the water pressure issues had it been operable, the Los Angeles Times reported Jan 10.

Other social media users claimed slow construction of California’s reservoir led to the hydrants running dry. But local infrastructure failures, not regional water storage, caused the hydrant problems, so it’s wrong to blame them on these projects’ construction timeline.

“In 2014, Californians overwhelmingly voted to spend billions on water storage and reservoirs,” the conservative account Libs of Tiktok posted Jan. 8. “Gavin Newsom still hasn’t built it. Now no water is coming out of the fire hydrants.”

California voters approved a 2014 ballot measure to spend $2.7 billion on water storage projects — and, to date, none have been completed. Only one of those projects is a new reservoir, based in the Sacramento Valley about 450 miles from Los Angeles. It’s set to begin operating in 2033.

A closer project, the Chino Basin Program, will improve storage capacity in a system about 60 miles west of Los Angeles.

​

 

[LurkerSix]

Social media users revive Trump’s past forest management criticism​

Trump in 2018 and 2019, blamed California’s forest management for deadly wildfires those years. In a 2019 X post, Trump said Newsom must “clean” forest floors. In another 2019 post, Trump wrote that “Billions of dollars are sent to the State of California for Forest fires that, with proper Forest Management, would never happen,” and threatened to withhold FEMA money.

Social media who reshared the claim in the context of the Los Angeles disaster shared a 2018 video of Trump with then Gov.-elect Newsom at the scene of a destroyed mobile home park in Northern California. In the video, Trump spoke of the need to rake and clean forest floors to prevent wildfires.

“Trump warned him about this years ago,” Fox News host Jesse Watters said in a Jan. 8 segment about the Los Angeles fires. “Is Trump ever wrong?” one social media user asked.

In a September 2020 appearance with Trump after other California wildfires, Newsom said the state in the past had “not done justice in our forest management” and thanked Trump for supporting and funding a new “first-type commitment over the next 20 years, to double our vegetation management and forest management.” Newsom also noted that the federal government owns 57 percent of California’s forest land versus 3 percent owned by the state, and that climate change plays a role in wildfires. Forest researchers confirm the forest land ownership statistics.

A Jan. 8 post on Newsom’s website said that California has “dramatically ramped up state work to increase wildland and forest resilience” treating more than 700,000 acres of land for wildfire resilience in 2023. That’s up from about 572,000 acres in 2021, according to a state dashboard tracking fire prevention work.

Prescribed fires (a controlled burn used to control wildfires) more than doubled from 2021 to 2023, the governor’s post said. Newsom’s press office said the state invests $200 million annually for healthy forest and fire prevention programs, and that his budget commits $4 billion more in prior and future investments in wildfire resilience over the next several years.

Stanford University’s Field said factors controlling California’s fire risk and spread vary from place to place.

Fuel management in the Sierra mountain range forest is important, but less so near Southern California’s coast, Field said. Property owners and fire professionals can assist with fuel management, mostly by clearing flammable materials and vegetation around homes to create a buffer zone. In general, homeowners and homeowner associations would be responsible for that, he said.

Field said the wildland areas that have burned in Los Angeles cover areas that have many different owners. The federally owned Angeles National Forest neighbors Altadena, where the Eaton wildfire is burning. The Pacific Palisades blaze includes state and national parkland.

“California is fortunate to have a wide range of spectacular natural landscapes, but the state is struggling with how to manage those landscapes to manage fire risk,” Field said, though he added that all government parties have started “ambitious” fire risk reduction programs in recent years.

Field said it’s important for property owners to create buffer zones against wildfires, but said he doesn’t see evidence “that fuel management (or the lack of fuel management) played a role in the LA fires.”

Robert York, co-director of Berkeley Forests and a Rausser College of Natural Resources professor, said wildfires behave differently depending on whether they start in forests or in brush vegetation.

The Pacific Palisades fire, the largest of the state’s current wildfires, for example, began as a brushfire and spread through the area’s dense chaparral, a shrubland plant community common to the state. Chaparral is more easily overwhelmed by strong winds, limiting prefire management’s effectiveness, whereas forest-centered efforts to reduce tree density and underbrush are “well-known to reduce fire intensity,” York said.

State and private landowners have worked to improve forest management, he said, but more needs to be done.

 

[ChicagoFigure]

I didnt see a link to said article in this thread.

What response failure? The largest wildfire in the states history broke out, not a few house fires. They mobilized thousands of firefighters trying to contain a wildfire aided by hurricane force winds. How do you expect them to put it in a day?

Already address the hydrate issue numerous times, but some people keep ignoring it. And should reservoirs not be repaired? They were in contracted negotiations to get it done and the whole reason they had to do that was cause the water got contaminated....

Bruh Newsom himself is saying he doesn't know why the Santa Ynes reservoir is empty for almost a year now. There's no dispute it needed repair, but why has it been a whole year and still hasn't been fixed?

U cant have the answer to that bc Newsom says himself he doesn't have the answer to that. The problem is it's too little too late, he should've cared months ago.

 

[LurkerSix]

o boy

 

[Inori]

lol imagine somebody putting what amounts to like 5 dollars onto the dinner bill tryna dictate what the person that put like 100 on it gets to order. FOH

 

[Infamous114]

 

[Tayboo]

WTF is wrong with people?????

 

[Infamous114]

 

[ThaManMythLegnd]

Starting to really notice some goal posts being subtly moved... Figured I'd add this before we see posts about it, even tho i know yall hate reading idc

You're the dude in here being condescending. Some of us live in the damn state, we know WAY more about what's going on than you or whatever twitter bot you're following. All you've done here is try and cover for officials fucking up because of party affiliation. Good luck with that, people ain't buying that shit anymore

 

[ThaManMythLegnd]

WTF is wrong with people?????

I saw one of the press conferences earlier today and they said one of them flatout just wanted chaos. Mental health is out of control in this country

 

[StringerBell]

 

[StringerBell]

 

[LurkerSix]

You're the dude in here being condescending. Some of us live in the damn state, we know WAY more about what's going on than you or whatever twitter bot you're following. All you've done here is try and cover for officials fucking up because of party affiliation. Good luck with that, people ain't buying that shit anymore

Reading through these exchanges, its clear you live there and dont really know whats going on. You're the same one that said the fires were going on cuz yall ran outa water, because of Newsome. That was clearly debunked and instead of owning up to ya blunder, you doubled down until you could find some other conspiracy to complain about.

And now when you dont have anything to go back at the facts i presented (with cited sources), you start yelling that im some liberal, bring up bots & other nonsense. Only people I ever seen spout that type of nonsense is those middle-aged, white, weirdos, that constantly watch Fox News and those dumb fake alpha male manoshere podcasts.

Imagine being mad I'm not instantly believing fake news that easily debunked. That Bill Burr clip was right. Fires just happened and going crazy, yet we somehow got all these Cali government & fire experts, that know exactly how, why it happened, who to blame, but none of them are or have ever been in government in LA or worked in the fire department. What a joke.

And if yall wanna quote me arguing how qualified you are and how much I dont know, then why didnt you warn anyone before hand since you knew so damn much.

 

[ChicagoFigure]

Reading through these exchanges, its clear you live there and dont really know whats going on. You're the same one that said the fires were going on cuz yall ran outa water, because of Newsome. That was clearly debunked and instead of owning up to ya blunder, you doubled down until you could find some other conspiracy to complain about.

And now when you dont have anything to go back at the facts i presented (with cited sources), you start yelling that im some liberal, bring up bots & other nonsense. Only people I ever seen spout that type of nonsense is those middle-aged, white, weirdos, that constantly watch Fox News and those dumb fake alpha male manoshere podcasts.

Imagine being mad I'm not instantly believing fake news that easily debunked. That Bill Burr clip was right. Fires just happened and going crazy, yet we somehow got all these Cali government & fire experts, that know exactly how, why it happened, who to blame, but none of them are or have ever been in government in LA or worked in the fire department. What a joke.

And if yall wanna quote me arguing how qualified you are and how much I dont know, then why didnt you warn anyone before hand since you knew so damn much.

I mean the LAFD fire chief is lashing out at the mayor