End oil drilling permits? + Equality California union breakthrough + Group seeks Newsom vetoes

Good morning and welcome to the A.M. Alert!

GROUP CALLS FOR NEWSOM TO END OIL DRILLING

After an oil pipeline spilled more than 100,000 gallons of oil into the Pacific Ocean in federal waters off the coast of Orange County this weekend, the group Consumer Watchdog is re-upping its call for Gov. Gavin Newsom to cease issuing both offshore and onshore oil drilling permits.

“This current spill makes it clear like never before that there is no such thing as safe proximity to oil drilling,” said Consumer Watchdog’s Liza Tucker in a statement. “Governor Newsom must stop issuing both offshore and onshore permits immediately and set a barrier of 2,500 feet between vulnerable communities and oil operations if his own oil and gas supervisor won’t.”

The group points out that since taking office, Newsom has dispensed 138 oil permits for operations in state waters, including five new drilling permits and 133 permits to perform work on existing offshore wells.

The governor has been even more prolific with onshore oil permits, issuing more than 9,000 drilling permits since taking office at the start of 2019, according to Consumer Watchdog.

More than 2 million Californians live within half a mile of an oil well, while 7 million live within a mile of one.

Consumer Watchdog and FracTracker Alliance are among a coalition of groups calling on Newsom to issue a mandatory 2,500-foot setback between oil drilling operations and communities. Up to one mile would be preferable based on the evidence, they argue.

Erin Mellon, speaking on behalf of the governor’s office, issued the following statement in response to a Sacramento Bee inquiry.

“The state is working closely with the responsible parties, the federal government and locals in their response to the oil spill off the coast of Orange County. As California continues to lead the nation in phasing out fossil fuels and combating the climate crisis, this incident serves as a reminder of the enormous cost fossil fuels have on our communities. Destructive offshore drilling practices sacrifice our public health, the economy, and our environment. California has not granted new offshore leases for oil production in over fifty years and Governor Newsom has directed CARB to analyze pathways to phase out oil extraction by 2045. California will continue to lead the way to transition away from these harmful practices that cause immediate damage today and in the future,” Mellon said.

EQUALITY CALIFORNIA RECOGNIZES EMPLOYEE BARGAINING UNIT

It looks as if the impasse between Equality California and its unionizing employees has come to an end, with the former agreeing to recognize Equality Unites’ proposed bargaining unit.

Outgoing executive director Rick Chavez Zbur and incoming executive director Tony Hoang issued a joint statement to that effect on Monday.

“Equality California has always stood shoulder-to-shoulder with unions in the fight for workers’ rights, which is why we’ve been supportive of our employees’ interests in forming a staff union. While we remain concerned about the implications of a single bargaining unit including both supervisors and the staff that they supervise, we are eager to move forward with the collective bargaining process without delay, so we are forgoing what would be a lengthy appeals process and engaging the supervisory issue in the collective bargaining conversations. Today we are voluntarily recognizing our employees’ proposed bargaining unit and look forward to a productive relationship with Equality Unites and CWA Local 9003 as we work collaboratively to create a world that is healthy, just and fully equal for all LGBTQ+ people — until the work is done,” the statement read.

Previously, Equality California management and the unionizing employees had been at odds over whether there should be one bargaining unit (the Equality Unites position) or two (the previously held position of management).

SHOULD NEWSOM VETO CANNABIS BILLS?

As Gov. Gavin Newsom works his way through the stack of bills awaiting a signature on his desk, one group is calling on him to veto two of them.

Youth Forward, a nonprofit formed in response to the 2016 passage of Proposition 64 — legalizing the sale of recreational adult-use cannabis — is calling on Newsom to veto AB 1302 and AB 45.

So what do those bills do?

AB 1302 updates the state’s restriction on cannabis billboard advertising, limiting the prohibition against such ads to state and federal highways withing 15 miles of the California border. The bill unsurprisingly had the support of the cannabis industry. Supporters argued, in a Senate floor analysis of the bill, that cannabis is a highly regulated, tax-paying industry that should have the capacity to grow their businesses and continue contributing to the state’s economy.

Youth Forward charges that if the bill becomes law, children and young people will be exposed to cannabis advertising that could include products such as flavored vapes and cannabis candies and cookies.

As for AB 45, it would establish a regulatory framework for industrial hemp under the state’s Sherman Food, Drug and Cosmetic Law.

Youth Forward charges that it would allow for the sale of “adulterated” hemp products containing THC and CBD.

However, the bill’s author, Assemblywoman Cecilia Aguiar-Curry, D-Winters, argues in an Assembly floor analysis of the bill that “Hemp is not marijuana and while both hemp and marijuana are members of the cannabis family,they are uniquely distinctive plants. Hemp-derived CBD does not produce a ‘high’ because CBD derived from hemp contains only trace amounts of THC (less than 0.3%), the psychoactive component in marijuana products.”

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“Workplace productivity is going to skyrocket today.”

- Assemblyman Jordan Cunningham, R-San Luis Obispo, via Twitter (which stayed online, unlike Facebook)

Best of the Bee:

• Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday signed a law aimed at improving maternal and postpartum care for Black California families who have disproportionately suffered pregnancy-related and infant deaths in recent years, via Kim Bojórquez.

• California has banned state-funded travel to 18 states, with a total population of 117 million people. That’s a little more than a third of the nation’s overall population. You can’t drive across the country without passing through at least one state on the list, via Phillip Reese and Andrew Sheeler.

• A major aim of the more generous child tax credit was to lift thousands of children out of poverty. But new data say that the families of hundreds of thousands of California children are not getting the tax break they badly need, via David Lightman.