Advocates fight Covid-19 vaccine concerns among agricultural workers [Wall Street Journal]
… Community health workers like the Todec team are working across the U.S. to reach some of the millions of Latinos laboring on farms and in meatpacking and poultry plants, a group that is at once among the most vulnerable to Covid-19 and yet more reluctant than others to get vaccinated. The health workers are battling a deluge of vaccine misinformation spread among agricultural workers’ friends and family as well as in churches and on social media. … The health workers’ efforts may be crucial to bringing a swift end to the pandemic, given the spread of the virus in this community.
In first Tulare Co. visit, Gov. Gavin Newsom talks vaccine equity: ‘Not just an urban issue’ [Visalia Times-Delta]
California Gov. Gavin Newsom visited Earlimart in rural Tulare County on Monday to discuss vaccine equity as the state ramps up efforts to deliver vaccines to the Central Valley and other vulnerable communities. … To that end, the state is partnering with a dozen community organizations in the South Valley to reach farmworkers and other vulnerable residents who may not have internet access or transportation to the larger clinics, Newsom said. “We are doing more and getting better at reaching people where they are, not demanding that they meet us where we are,” he said.
Oil drillers win OK for 40,500 new wells, but major farmer vows to sue [Palm Springs Desert Sun]
Kern County supervisors on Monday night, over the objections of farmers and environmentalists, gave upfront, blanket environmental approval for 40,500 new oil and gas wells in the county via a single, supplemental environmental impact report and a related ordinance. … But the measures will likely be challenged again by environmentalists and by members of the Central Valley’s other dominant power broker — the agriculture industry. … Gardiner, the longtime Bakersfield farmer, said the new version was worse than the original because it eliminated conservation of farmlands in exchange for new oil drilling and contained other “huge loopholes.”
Trump policy that weakened wild bird protections is revoked [Associated Press]
The Biden administration on Monday reversed a policy imposed under former President Donald Trump that drastically weakened the government’s power to enforce a century-old law that protects most U.S. bird species. Trump ended criminal prosecutions against companies responsible for bird deaths that could have been prevented. The move halted enforcement practices under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act in place for decades. … The migratory bird policy was among dozens of Trump-era environmental actions Biden ordered reconsidered on his first day in office.
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/trump-policy-that-weakened-wild-bird-protections-is-revoked
Record drought strains the Southwest [Wall Street Journal]
… The Southwest is locked in drought again, prompting cutbacks to farms and ranches and putting renewed pressure on urban supplies. Extreme to exceptional drought is afflicting between 57% and 90% of the land in Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah and Arizona. … The drought conditions have also spread into California, where the snowpack was 58% of the average as of Monday, according to historical records that go back a little less than a century. That raises the likelihood of dryness that could contribute to wildfires and trigger cutbacks to agriculture, state officials say.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/record-drought-strains-the-southwest-11615298405?page=1
Opinion: Those in agriculture are silent partners with Mother Nature [Santa Maria Times/Lompoc Record]
… It’s always sad to see the effects of drought and politics take their toll on orchards, vineyards and row crops in the Valley, as many acres are pushed out and laying fallow due to lack of irrigation water and political will. It looks like I will be traveling north along I-5 a little more often as I have agreed to represent both Ventura and Santa Barbara counties on the state board of the California Farm Bureau, whose office is in Sacramento. … The Farm Bureau has been advocating for farmers and ranchers for over 100 years. Our collective voices need to be stronger now, than ever.
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