This week, the media continued to bemoan the California drought while downplaying how much water we’re losing due to environmental regulations. I took on some of the media spin about the water crisis last week in an article for National Review. Writing for the same magazine, Kevin Williamson has a piece out today debunking the common argument that global warming is to blame for the crisis. Read h... Read more »
The effects of Governor Jerry Brown’s water restrictions continue to reverberate across the state. A lot of the media coverage blames farmers for the crisis without even mentioning the environmental regulations that have been decimating the Central Valley water supply for decades. I offer a corrective to the media’s reporting in a new article here, and I argue my points in a Fox News report here. ... Read more »
The national media suddenly took notice of the California water wars this week after Governor Brown announced state-wide water restrictions. It’s nice to see some media interest in the problem, though they’re coming pretty late to the game. It’s amazing how a decades-long crisis in the Valley turns into a big story once the effects hit San Francisco and other coastal enclaves. Governor Brown, Pre... Read more »
I just returned from a trip to Europe and the Middle East, where a highlight was the chance to meet with U.S. troops stationed overseas. I also spoke to representatives of our Middle Eastern allies, who are rightfully worried by spreading instability and violence. Aside from the battle against ISIS in Syria, Iraq, and northern Africa, Iran is a major concern. Using proxy militias as well as their... Read more »
Congressmen Devin Nunes (CA-22) today released the following statement in reaction to California Governor Jerry Brown’s announcement that he would implement mandatory water restrictions throughout California: “California’s natural drought has not caused the water crisis in the Central Valley, where the irrigation system was built to withstand five consecutive years of drought. I’d prefer to see th... Read more »
The office of Congressmen Devin Nunes (CA-22) is announcing that its long-time chief of staff, Johnny Amaral, will leave the Nunes team to work for Westlands Water District. Having run Rep. Nunes’ first successful campaign for Congress in 2001, Amaral has served as his chief of staff since 2002 and has acted as Rep. Nunes’ top advisor for many of his most important initiatives. In addition to over... Read more »
I was back in the Valley this week, where I enjoyed having a townhall meeting with around a hundred Cigna employees who discussed ObamaCare, jobs, water, and other issues with me. Hundreds of Cigna jobs in Visalia had been jeopardized by ObamaCare regulations that put U.S. insurers at a disadvantage with foreign-based companies in issuing health plans for Americans living overseas. However, a bip... Read more »
The labor dispute between the longshoremen’s union and ship owners at dozens of West Coast seaports has become a critical problem, with some ships being forced to wait weeks before entering terminals. The economic costs in the Central Valley are increasingly severe – as ships get stuck at the ports, commerce is being slowly strangled. Customers for our products and commodities are canceling contr... Read more »
In a meeting with reporters this week, California Senator Barbara Boxer lashed out at House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, who had blamed the senator for killing House-Senate negotiations on a California water bill. Pronouncing herself a Brooklyn street-fighter, the senator accused Leader McCarthy of not consulting closely enough with her and some of her allies. In previous Congresses, the House... Read more »
The House of Representatives this week passed its third bill in three years to alleviate the California water crisis. Based on extensive, bipartisan House-Senate negotiations, the California Emergency Drought Relief Act (H.R. 5781) included numerous Senate demands. The bill did not even strive to permanently solve the crisis, instead proposing measures simply to bring some short-term relief to fa... Read more »
