Groundswell: CLCV Blog

Just minutes ago, I stood in Governor Jerry Brown's office while he signed historic legislation regulating California groundwater.

Incredibly, until today, California was the only western state without groundwater regulations. For decades, Californians have used more groundwater than we have replenished, and water levels have dropped at an alarming rate. In the current drought, as other water resources have declined, groundwater has been supplying more than half of California’s water needs.

I'm proud to share this breaking news: The state legislature just passed the statewide ban on single-use plastic bags, SB 270! The final vote to send it to the governor's desk was a late-night concurrence vote, 22-15 in the State Senate, just minutes ago.

One would expect firefighters would know a thing or two about fire safety. So when they speak up and tell the state legislature that adding pounds of flame retardant chemicals to single pieces of furniture doesn't protect them, or folks whose houses or businesses catch fire, and in fact puts their lives MORE at risk, you would hope our lawmakers would listen.

Washing your face and brushing your teeth are daily activities that shouldn’t cause harm to our environment. Unfortunately, tiny plastic beads in some personal care products are entering our local streams and rivers directly from our sinks – and they're eventually found in the ocean and inside the bodies of marine wildlife.