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Trump and Newsom are on the same page about logging. That's not a good thing

Trump and Newsom are on the same page about logging. That's not a good thing

Yahoo04-05-2025

'California forestry policies: A marriage of priorities?' (sacbee.com, April 24)
In the name of wildfire prevention, both President Donald Trump and Gov. Gavin Newsom are pushing for more logging through mechanisms that skirt environmental oversight, further degrading our forest ecosystems.
But thinning usually does more harm than good: It can accelerate fire spread by exposing the forest floor's fuels to sun drying and wind penetration; it significantly lowers carbon sequestration, putting more emissions into the atmosphere; and even the supposed benefits are less impactful in areas where vegetation can grow back quickly and there's a lack of old-growth trees.
Most importantly, thinning is often used as a pretext for commercial logging, targeting valuable trees instead of the more fire-prone vegetation. In this case, Trump wants to feed the timber lobby with more lumber, and Newsom has pushed an agenda of building a 'woody products' industry in California.
Neither has the environment's best interests at heart.
Jeff Zhou
Glendale
Opinion
'California forestry policies: A marriage of priorities?' (sacbee.com, April 24)
Forest management efforts must start on the local level by hardening communities, then work outward — not the other way around. Forest management should be science-based, not profit-based, with the net result of keeping carbon in the forests, preserving forest ecology and reducing climate change.
Experience with President Donald Trump's first 100 days in office shows that the voices of science and common sense are being muzzled. Remember the physician's motto: 'First, do no harm.'
Harry White
Roseville
'Why fossil fuel companies must pay for climate damages,' (sacbee.com, April 18)
The fossil fuel industry has made a fortune making me sick: My days in elementary school were spent in an environment full of lead from fossil fuel additives and smog — the pollution was so bad, outdoor physical exercise classes would be cancelled.
As a student at UC Santa Barbara, I saw the 1969 oil spill cover our pristine beaches. The fossil fuel industry told us that oil was a 'natural' component of the shoreline.
Years later, my father-in-law's home was lost in one of the Malibu fires, and my parents' home was destroyed in the 2018 Camp Fire.
It is time for the fossil fuel industry to be held accountable for its deceptions. Call your state representatives and demand they pass the Polluters Pay Climate Superfund Act of 2025.
Charles Williams
Cupertino
'Should Big Oil pay for California's climate disasters? You may pay at the pump,' (sacbee.com, April 10)
It was stunning to see state senators like Sacramento's Angelique Ashby give Big Oil a pass for causing the climate crisis now fueling today's insurance affordability crisis.
California's oil companies knew in the 1950s that burning fossil fuels was dangerous for our climate, but they greedily colluded to bury the truth and pioneer climate denial. Now, all of us face explosive costs — from more frequent and destructive wildfires to drought and flooding, all with fewer and more expensive insurance options to help pick up the pieces after disaster strikes.
Until oil companies pay their fair share, this trend won't end. Without affordable insurance, businesses will close, families won't get home mortgages and construction to develop our state stops.
Mary Creasman
CEO, California Environmental Voters

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PBS, NPR funding on the line as House nears final vote on $9.4 billion in DOGE-backed cuts
PBS, NPR funding on the line as House nears final vote on $9.4 billion in DOGE-backed cuts

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PBS, NPR funding on the line as House nears final vote on $9.4 billion in DOGE-backed cuts

The House on Wednesday moved a step closer to approving President Donald Trump's $9.4 billion spending cut package, which would codify some cuts originally proposed by the Department of Government Efficiency. The package would grant permission to the White House not to spend billions of dollars that had already been approved by Congress. The money would be clawed back from specific agencies like the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which distributes federally appropriated grants to National Public Radio (NPR) and Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). Although the Wednesday procedural vote passed largely along party lines, a final vote expected Thursday could see some resistance from House Republicans who are uneasy about the popular programs that are being targeted, like PBS and National Public Radio. Given House Speaker Mike Johnson's narrow Republican majority, he can only afford to lose a handful of votes and still push the package over the finish line on a party-line vote. Johnson said earlier this week that he was "working on" getting enough Republicans on board to pass the DOGE package, CNN reported. Wednesday's vote also finalized changes to Republicans' "big, beautiful bill" that were required by the Senate before the measure was allowed to pass with a simple majority, rather than the typical 60-vote Senate threshold. Budget measures like the "big, beautiful bill" can be considered under a special set of rules known as reconciliation. The Senate's parliamentarian, who acts as a sort of referee in disputes over Senate rules, had flagged some provisions in the package earlier that she said were incompatible with the chamber's reconciliation rules.

GOP lawmaker flips script on Newsom, Bass by defining anti-ICE riots with 1 word
GOP lawmaker flips script on Newsom, Bass by defining anti-ICE riots with 1 word

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GOP lawmaker flips script on Newsom, Bass by defining anti-ICE riots with 1 word

EXCLUSIVE: GOP Rep. Darrell Issa is blasting elected Democrat officials in his home state of California over their response to the anti-ICE riots in Los Angeles after he called for a congressional investigation into the response time of local law enforcement. "These are the same people that tell us, you know, Biden was fine, he was on the top of his game," Issa said about Democrat narratives responding to the riots that have been unfolding in Los Angeles since Friday. "So their credibility goes with what you see versus what they say. I can't think of a better example of why you shouldn't believe or vote for people in that party as long as they're willing to literally lie to your face on what you're seeing with your own eyes." Democrats across the country, from California to Washington, D.C., have downplayed the rioting and focused on the claim that the majority of the anti-ICE displays have been "peaceful." Additionally, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and other Democrats have blamed President Donald Trump's mobilizing the National Guard for making the situation worse. Issa, who represents California's 48th Congressional District, took issue with that narrative. "First of all, there was damage, both vandalism and actual destruction done before Trump got involved, and that's the reason he got involved, but there's another thing that some people miss," Issa told Fox News Digital. "When ICE agents called for police support when they were being assaulted, they hunkered down and waited two hours before police responded because police couldn't get authority to react. So that alone gave a reason for the president to bring in additional federalized troops to protect the ICE agents." On Tuesday, Fox News Digital exclusively reported Issa's call for an investigation into the Department of Homeland Security's claim that the LAPD took two hours to respond to assist ICE agents being assaulted on Friday night. The LAPD, in a Sunday press conference, denied that allegation and said it took 40 minutes to respond due to traffic. "Understand that we have over 10 million people who were let into this country, and tens of thousands of them are serious criminal aliens," Issa said. "There were warrants. There were orders to deport. There are reasons that we've got to go after many of these people in cities around the country. If ICE agents can't be protected or won't be protected by people like the mayor and my governor, then the president's going to have to continue to do this, eventually create escorts for ICE agents." Issa told Fox News Digital that Trump is doing a "great job" in his response to the unrest in Los Angeles. 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"They're going to see a failure to do his job and an absolute resistance against those who came in to do it for him." Fox News Digital reached out to the offices of Newsom and Bass for comment. "Trump is pulling a military dragnet all across Los Angeles, well beyond his stated intent to just go after violent and serious criminals," Newsom said on Tuesday night. "His agents are arresting dishwashers, gardeners, day laborers and seamstresses. That's just weakness. Weakness masquerading as strength. Donald Trump's government isn't protecting our communities. They're traumatizing our communities. And that seems to be the entire point." "When Donald Trump sought blanket authority to commandeer the National Guard, he made that order apply to every state in this nation. This is about all of us. This is about you. California may be first, but it clearly will not end here. Other states are next. Democracy is next. Democracy is under assault before our eyes. 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Trump says US personnel moved as Iran tensions mount
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Trump says US personnel moved as Iran tensions mount

President Donald Trump said US personnel were being moved from the potentially "dangerous" Middle East on Wednesday as nuclear talks with Iran faltered and fears grew of a regional conflict. Trump also reiterated that he would not allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon, amid mounting speculation that Israel could strike Tehran's facilities. Iran threatened Wednesday to target US military bases in the region if conflict breaks out. A US official had earlier said that staff levels at the embassy in Iraq were being reduced over security concerns, while there were reports that personnel were also being moved from Kuwait and Bahrain. "Well they are being moved out because it could be a dangerous place," Trump told reporters in Washington when asked about the reports of personnel being moved. "We've given notice to move out and we'll see what happens." Trump then added: "They can't have a nuclear weapon, very simple. We're not going to allow that." Tehran and Washington have held five rounds of talks since April to thrash out a new nuclear deal to replace the 2015 accord that Trump abandoned during his first term in 2018. The two sides were due to meet again in coming days. Trump had until recently expressed optimism about the talks, but said in an interview published Wednesday that he was "less confident" about reaching a nuclear deal. Since returning to office in January, Trump has revived his "maximum pressure" campaign on Tehran, backing nuclear diplomacy but warning of military action if it fails. The US president says he has pressed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to hold off striking Iran's nuclear facilities to give the talks a chance, but has increasingly signaled that he is losing patience. Iran however warned it would respond to any attack. "All its bases are within our reach, we have access to them, and without hesitation we will target all of them in the host countries," Iran's Defence Minister Aziz Nasirzadeh said in response to US threats of military action if the talks fail. - 'Suffer more losses' - "God willing, things won't reach that point, and the talks will succeed," the minister said, adding that the US side "will suffer more losses" if it came to conflict. The United States has multiple bases in the Middle East, with the largest located in Qatar. In January 2020, Iran fired missiles at bases in Iraq housing American troops in retaliation for the US strike that killed top Iranian general Qassem Soleimani days before at the Baghdad airport. Dozens of US soldiers suffered traumatic brain injuries. Amid the escalating tensions, the UK Maritime Trade Operations, run by the British navy, also advised ships to transit the Gulf with caution. Iran and the United States have recently been locked in a diplomatic standoff over Iran's uranium enrichment, with Tehran defending it as a "non-negotiable" right and Washington calling it a "red line." Iran currently enriches uranium to 60 percent, far above the 3.67-percent limit set in the 2015 deal and close though still short of the 90 percent needed for a nuclear warhead. Western countries have long accused Iran of seeking to acquire atomic weapons, while Tehran insists its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes. Last week, Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said enrichment is "key" to Iran's nuclear program and that Washington "cannot have a say" on the issue. During an interview with the New York Post's podcast "Pod Force One," which was recorded on Monday, Trump said he was losing hope a deal could be reached. "I don't know. I did think so, and I'm getting more and more -- less confident about it. They seem to be delaying and I think that's a shame. I am less confident now than I would have been a couple of months ago," he said. Iran has said it will present a counter-proposal to the latest draft from Washington, which it had criticised for failing to offer relief from sanctions -- a key demand for Tehran, which has been reeling under their weight for years. burs-dk/jgc

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