How far can California push the nation — and the world? Jerry Brown’s climate summit may provide the answer [Los Angeles Times]
Even as California forged its own path for years to battle global warming, pressing forward whether Washington agreed or not, skeptics have persistently scolded that it is just a state — it can’t set policy for the nation, much less the world. If California ever had a moment to prove them wrong, it is now. At the international climate summit Gov. Jerry Brown will kick off Wednesday in San Francisco, the state is playing a role none ever has, pushing the rest of the country to join other nations in enforcing a landmark agreement on climate change that President Trump has quit. Put simply, the three-day environmental summit will test whether California can bring the country to a place Congress and the White House won’t.
http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-pol-climate-summit-preview-20180912-story.html
Growers try carbon farming to help combat climate change [Santa Rosa Press Democrat]
The world’s farmers must feed a human population that will reach 10 billion in the next three decades, but they also may be asked to help combat climate change by putting more carbon into the soil than they take out of it. As an example, Jackson Family Wines is running a five-year experiment to try to increase the carbon held in its soils at a Russian River vineyard and a group of advocates of climate-smart farming toured the area on Tuesday. The Jackson winery, the county’s largest vintner, and the Sonoma Resource Conservation District received a $100,000 state grant to conduct the research on a 22-acre section of vineyard.
https://www.pressdemocrat.com/news/8726468-181/growers-try-carbon-farming-to
U.S. businesses ramp up lobbying against Trump’s tariffs [Wall Street Journal]
From California apple growers to Maine lobstermen, businesses are joining forces to try to persuade President Trump that tariffs are hurting U.S. industries. On Wednesday, organizations representing thousands of companies in industries including retailing, toy manufacturing, farming and technology plan to announce they are cooperating on a lobbying campaign called Tariffs Hurt the Heartland to oppose tariffs on imports. It is the latest sign that businesses are ratcheting up lobbying against tariffs that the Trump administration has imposed, or is considering, as Mr. Trump says he will defend American manufacturing jobs.
Canada ready to allow U.S. dairy access in NAFTA talks: Sources [Reuters]
Canada is ready to offer the United States limited access to the Canadian dairy market as a concession in negotiations to rework the North American Free Trade Agreement, two Canadian sources with direct knowledge of Ottawa’s negotiating strategy said on Tuesday. U.S. President Donald Trump said at the White House that trade talks with Canada were going well and that Ottawa wants to make a deal. Chrystia Freeland, Canada’s foreign minister, returned to Washington on Tuesday for talks with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer.
https://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2018/09/11/business/11reuters-trade-nafta.html
U.S. proposing new round of trade talks with China [Wall Street Journal]
The U.S. is reaching out to China for a new round of trade talks, in an effort to give Beijing another opportunity to address trade issues before the Trump administration implements additional tariffs on Chinese imports, according to people briefed on the matter….The proposal comes as the Trump administration is gearing up to impose tariffs on an additional $200 billion of Chinese goods, after imposing tariffs on $50 billion in Chinese goods earlier this year. The invitation to negotiate reflects the attempt by some in the administration to “make every effort to get the Chinese to address the U.S. demands before the tariffs hit,” one of the people said.
Editorial: Delta hearing opens door to twin-tunnels water grab [San Jose Mercury News]
The bad news emerging from Sacramento on Tuesday was that, after two postponements, the Joint Legislative Budget Committee held a hearing allowing the Department of Water Resources to extend State Water Project contracts for another 50 years….Brown’s successor, likely Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, should kill the project if he can. But if the Legislature and governor can’t bother to look out for the best interests of Californians, perhaps it’s time for opponents to start thinking about a state ballot measure for 2020 giving voters a chance to decide the fate of the project, once and for all.
