Joe Biden to propose 8-year citizenship path for immigrants [Associated Press]
President-elect Joe Biden plans to unveil a sweeping immigration bill on Day One of his administration, hoping to provide an eight-year path to citizenship for an estimated 11 million people living in the U.S. without legal status, a massive reversal from the Trump administration’s harsh immigration policies. … Under the legislation, those living in the U.S. as of Jan. 1, 2021, without legal status would have a five-year path to temporary legal status, or a green card, if they pass background checks, pay taxes and fulfill other basic requirements. … So-called Dreamers, the young people who arrived in the U.S. illegally as children, as well as agricultural workers and people under temporary protective status could qualify more immediately for green cards if they are working, are in school or meet other requirements.
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/joe-biden-to-propose-8-year-citizenship-path-for-immigrants
Who is ‘essential’? Food and farm workers left in limbo in vaccine priorities [Politico]
… The industry is clamoring to prioritize frontline food workers who kept Americans fed throughout the worst of the pandemic even as thousands of them fell sick and hundreds died. But limited doses and a haphazard patchwork of distribution plans are leading to fears that thousands more workers will get hit — potentially stymieing food production in the coming weeks and months. … President-elect Joe Biden is pushing for a $20 billion national vaccine program, but the plan doesn’t specifically address the needs of food and ag workers.
https://www.politico.com/news/2021/01/17/covid-vaccine-food-farm-workers-459845
Biden climate plan to address worsening Western wildfires, but it will take years [Redding Record Searchlight]
… Biden’s $1.7 trillion, 10-year plan for aggressively reducing greenhouse gas emissions and moving to a 100 percent clean energy economy no later than 2050 could help stave off the most catastrophic wildfire scenarios, particularly in the second half of the 21st Century, but it’s not a cure-all. … In the meantime, say fire experts, aggressive action is needed to improve forest health and transform communities into places equipped to handle a future of more and bigger fires. … The western forests of the United States store massive amounts of carbon dioxide, and when they burn up, that storage is lost, leading to a negative feedback loop where bigger fires fuel more warming, and more warming brings more fire.
Scientists worry that California’s ‘fossil water’ is vanishing [Bay Area News Group]
… The Lawrence Livermore study found clear evidence that 7% of the 2,330 California’s drinking wells tested are producing fossil water — and 22% of those wells are pumping mixed-age water containing at least some ancient water. … Scientists say that further mapping out where fossil water is located and pinpointing the areas that depend on the ancient resource could help lead to better groundwater management and ensure that supplies are sustained to meet future needs. If managers can determine how much fossil water is left, they can then ration it and work on strategies for replenishing the ancient wells.
https://www.mercurynews.com/2021/01/17/scientists-worry-that-californias-fossil-water-is-vanishing/
Valley irrigation district OKs plan to harvest mountain stream [Bakersfield Californian]
A plan to bring water from the South Fork of the Kern River through Isabella Lake and down 60 miles to farm fields west of Bakersfield was unanimously approved by the Rosedale-Rio Bravo Water Storage District board of directors on Tuesday. If the environmental documents supporting that plan survive what is sure to be a barrage of lawsuits brought by other Kern River rights holders, Rosedale-Rio Bravo farmers could see South Fork water in their furrows as early as this spring, according to Rosedale-Rio Bravo General Manager Eric Averett. … Given the tenor of the opposition letters, however, that may be optimistic.
Tiny helpful wasps are coming to save your citrus [Bay Area News Group]
To prevent the spread of the devastating citrus greening disease, the California Department of Food and Agriculture is releasing thousands of flea-sized wasps into neighborhoods around Santa Clara County in January and February as part of their Citrus Pest and Disease Prevention program. The teeny wasps, called Tamarixia radiata, while harmless to humans, are highly specialized predators of the invasive Asian citrus psyllid (ACP), which is responsible for spreading citrus greening disease, or Huanglongbing.
https://www.mercurynews.com/2021/01/18/tiny-helpful-wasps-are-coming-to-save-your-citrus/
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