Biden administration looks to triple amount of protected land in the U.S. [Los Angeles Times]
Faced with the possible extinction of tens of thousands of species and the growing threat of climate change, the Biden administration on Thursday announced plans to protect 30% of the nation’s land and ocean territory by the end of the decade. … The proposal leans into the president’s message that fighting climate change will create jobs, making the pitch that nature is crucial to ensuring Americans’ health and financial well-being. It describes an expansive vision of conservation, making clear that the administration views cattle ranching, logging, fishing and farming as compatible with its goals.
Can hydropower help solve the climate crisis? This $63-billion plan is banking on it [Los Angeles Times]
Conservationists in California and across the West are deeply skeptical of hydropower, and it’s not hard to see why. … But despite the environmental damage they’ve done, many dams also generate electricity that is free of planet-warming carbon emissions. … So it was a big deal when several major environmental groups announced last year that they were working with the hydropower industry to find common ground after decades of fierce conflict. … Now conservationists and the industry have some specific recommendations for the Biden administration.
Biden plan would limit longstanding tax break used by farmers [Wall Street Journal]
President Biden has said his tax proposals would make big business and wealthy investors pay their fair share. His package would also likely deliver a blow to American farm owners by limiting a longstanding tax break. The provision allows landowners to defer paying capital-gains tax when they sell investment property and put the proceeds toward the purchase of other real estate. … Farmers and land brokers said the latest proposal, capping the profits from land sales that can be tax-deferred at $500,000, would add another burden on farming.
Out of water, out of time: valley farmers forced to give up land [KMPH TV, Fresno]
… “We know things have been bad for quite a few years–a couple of decades– and this year accelerated it more than we anticipated,” said farmer Jay Kroeker, partner of Starrh Family Farms in Kern County. Kroeker says he’s going to have to dry out more than half of his almond farm in Kern County this year, cutting back from 4,000 to just 1,500 acres. … Valley farmers pay for the California Aqueduct water every year, it’s a set fee, but the amount of water they end up getting isn’t guaranteed. … “The biggest jolt and the biggest heartache is to have to tell employees that we’re in a downsizing situation and letting go of employees is extremely difficult and gut wrenching, each employee represents a family,” said Kroeker.
https://kmph.com/news/local/out-of-water-out-of-time-valley-farmers-forced-to-give-up-land
Drought conditions have California farmers considering all options [KXTV, Sacramento]
… “We farmers in the Central Valley had issues with water supply for a long time and it’s gotten worse. Progressively worse. Because climate change has altered the way we get our precipitation” Joe Del Bosque of Del Bosque Farms in Firebaugh, Calif. told ABC10. … “We’re already seeing farmers have stopped planting crops, they have reduced the acreage on some very important California crops like processing tomato and sweet corn, melons, onions, and garlic — things people expect to find when they go to the grocery store,” said Mike Wade of the Farm Water Coalition.
Editorial: There is no drought [Los Angeles Times]
… More 20th century infrastructure, lawmaking and emergency declarations won’t get us through this drought — because this is no drought. … What we have now is no deviation. It is the norm itself. … Money spent on programs or infrastructure that does not reflect new climate patterns or help water users adapt to them is money wasted. More agricultural acreage should be fallowed, and less water diverted from dried-out rivers and streams for unsustainable vineyards and orchards. Floodplains should be restored, so that in wet winters the excess water that once might have been frozen on mountainsides but now rushes downhill as flash floods can gather, settle and seep into the ground.
https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2021-05-06/editorial-there-is-no-drought
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