WEBVTT - California’s Post Recall Future Part 1 0:00:01.120 --> 0:00:03.720 You crack open a doctor pepper. You know it'll only 0:00:03.760 --> 0:00:05.920 make you more thirsty in the long run, but you 0:00:05.960 --> 0:00:08.080 need some liquid in your mouth, and you're saving your 0:00:08.119 --> 0:00:11.440 remaining fifteen gallons for a quick shower. The ew hall 0:00:11.560 --> 0:00:13.880 is finally almost packed up. You may be able to 0:00:13.880 --> 0:00:16.959 make it down to San Francisco in time. Living in 0:00:17.040 --> 0:00:19.600 Redwood Valley has been nice the last few years. It's 0:00:19.600 --> 0:00:22.280 a beautiful place, but in August of twenty twenty two, 0:00:22.360 --> 0:00:26.040 the drought became too much. Late last year, California's new 0:00:26.040 --> 0:00:29.400 far right governor lifted all water restrictions on farmers. This 0:00:29.480 --> 0:00:31.880 sparked a new state wide race to use what water 0:00:31.960 --> 0:00:35.559 was available before it ran out. Lake Mendesino was already 0:00:35.600 --> 0:00:37.360 low at the beginning of the year, and for the 0:00:37.400 --> 0:00:40.040 first time in your memory, it is now completely empty. 0:00:40.400 --> 0:00:43.000 San Francisco isn't doing great either, but it's much better 0:00:43.040 --> 0:00:46.040 off than where you live. The Russian River Watershed relies 0:00:46.080 --> 0:00:49.080 almost entirely on rainfall and is isolated from state and 0:00:49.120 --> 0:00:53.199 federal aqueducts. After the governor lifted water restrictions, new almond 0:00:53.240 --> 0:00:55.840 and pot farms started sucking up ground water, and by 0:00:55.880 --> 0:00:57.880 the end of the summer, they'd started pumping from the 0:00:57.960 --> 0:01:01.200 river to feed their thirsty crops. By mid July, your 0:01:01.200 --> 0:01:04.520 town implemented a twenty five gallon limit per person per day. 0:01:05.000 --> 0:01:07.000 That's about as much water as you go through during 0:01:07.000 --> 0:01:09.920 a five minute shower. The first thing you sacrificed was 0:01:09.959 --> 0:01:13.360 your garden. Then you stopped flushing after you peid. These 0:01:13.360 --> 0:01:16.240 tweaks added up, though, and without water, the lifestyle you'd 0:01:16.280 --> 0:01:19.640 loved just stopped being possible. Your brother in San Francisco 0:01:19.760 --> 0:01:21.959 offered to let you move in with him. You weren't 0:01:21.959 --> 0:01:23.720 a fan of the big city, but at least you'd 0:01:23.720 --> 0:01:26.480 be able to shower again. And so you find yourself 0:01:26.520 --> 0:01:28.800 sipping an empty soda can and loading up your last 0:01:28.840 --> 0:01:31.399 few boxes into the U haul. You give your brother 0:01:31.440 --> 0:01:33.760 a quick call saying you're all packed up and about 0:01:33.800 --> 0:01:36.880 to head out. He sounds worried and mentions something about 0:01:36.880 --> 0:01:39.400 his school letting new teachers go do to budget cuts. 0:01:39.880 --> 0:01:42.039 You can't really afford to think about that. Now, you 0:01:42.120 --> 0:01:45.040 just need to leave. Since you're all sweaty from loading 0:01:45.080 --> 0:01:46.920 the U haul the last few days, you decide to 0:01:46.920 --> 0:01:49.600 hop into the shower one last time. You knew it 0:01:49.640 --> 0:01:52.080 wouldn't last long, but you still seemed surprised when the 0:01:52.120 --> 0:01:54.760 water turned off after what felt like only two minutes. 0:01:55.200 --> 0:01:57.560 You quickly dry off and grab some clean clothes from 0:01:57.560 --> 0:02:00.000 your backpack and throw your damp towel into the passage 0:02:00.040 --> 0:02:02.160 your seat of the truck. You say goodbye to your 0:02:02.240 --> 0:02:04.760 home of ten years and to your old succulent plants, 0:02:05.040 --> 0:02:07.880 and begin the three hour drive down to San Francisco. 0:02:13.000 --> 0:02:15.960 Water scarcity is a problem you're probably already familiar with, 0:02:16.120 --> 0:02:19.120 especially if you live in the Southwest. California has dealt 0:02:19.120 --> 0:02:22.240 with particularly brutal droughts over the last twenty years, and 0:02:22.240 --> 0:02:24.840 the Golden States water problems could be about to get 0:02:24.960 --> 0:02:27.960 much much worse, because in just a few days, California 0:02:28.040 --> 0:02:30.600 might find itself helmed by a far right governor with 0:02:30.639 --> 0:02:34.880 a near religious hatred of water conservation. Electoral politics are 0:02:34.919 --> 0:02:37.560 not generally a big focus on this show, but what's 0:02:37.600 --> 0:02:40.000 going on in the state of California could have serious 0:02:40.040 --> 0:02:44.120 implications for many people, including those outside the West Coast. 0:02:44.560 --> 0:02:47.960 The ongoing recall campaign against Governor Gavin Newsom started out 0:02:48.000 --> 0:02:52.240 in June of with Republican politicians and activists unhappy with 0:02:52.320 --> 0:02:56.120 Newsom's handling of the pandemic. Newsom's opposition to President Trump's 0:02:56.160 --> 0:02:59.640 cracked down on undocumented immigrants also played a role. This 0:02:59.760 --> 0:03:02.360 is actually the fifth recall attempt against Newsom since he 0:03:02.400 --> 0:03:05.000 took office in twenty nineteen, but it's the first one 0:03:05.040 --> 0:03:07.960 to gain traction. It's fueled in part by Newsom's own 0:03:08.000 --> 0:03:12.400 hypocrisy and hubris. On November six the recall effort gained 0:03:12.440 --> 0:03:16.200 court approval for a signature gathering extension, and later that night, 0:03:16.360 --> 0:03:19.160 Governor Newsom went to a birthday party for a Sacramento 0:03:19.240 --> 0:03:22.960 lobbyist and friend at French Laundry, a pricing Napa Valley restaurant. 0:03:23.360 --> 0:03:26.560 Soon after, photo surfaced of Newsom mingling maskless at the 0:03:26.560 --> 0:03:30.200 packed restaurant. He faced heavy criticism and apologized, but the 0:03:30.240 --> 0:03:34.079 damage was done. Republicans latched onto this as an opportunity 0:03:34.120 --> 0:03:37.360 to finally push the recall effort through. The recall petition, 0:03:37.400 --> 0:03:40.560 which had only fifty five thousand and five signatures on 0:03:40.600 --> 0:03:42.760 the day of the dinner, had nearly half a million 0:03:42.800 --> 0:03:46.960 a month after the November sixth incident. California's recall process 0:03:47.080 --> 0:03:50.120 is probably the least democratic one in the United States. 0:03:50.760 --> 0:03:53.800 Gathering signatures to authorize a recall election is a pretty 0:03:53.840 --> 0:03:57.480 standard thing, but California has among the lowest signature requirements 0:03:57.520 --> 0:03:59.720 and states that allow for the recall of an official. 0:04:00.200 --> 0:04:03.360 Most states require that the recall campaign must gather signatures 0:04:03.360 --> 0:04:05.440 equal to twenty five percent of the votes cast in 0:04:05.440 --> 0:04:09.920 the last election. California requires just twelve percent for executive officials. 0:04:10.200 --> 0:04:13.080 The li Times notes quote that might have been a 0:04:13.160 --> 0:04:15.840 high bar in nineteen eleven, when the population was scattered 0:04:15.840 --> 0:04:18.479 across the seven hundred and seventy mile length of the state, 0:04:18.800 --> 0:04:21.240 But is it too low in twenty one when petitions 0:04:21.279 --> 0:04:23.760 for ballot measures are gathered and moss by paid staff 0:04:23.760 --> 0:04:26.920 and parking lots. And that's not the only questionable aspect 0:04:26.920 --> 0:04:31.320 of California's recall process. On recall election day, voters will 0:04:31.320 --> 0:04:34.240 face two questions on the ballot. First, yes or no 0:04:34.360 --> 0:04:37.560 on whether to recall Governor Gavin Newsom from office. Second, 0:04:37.720 --> 0:04:40.760 and this one is technically optional, If so, who among 0:04:40.800 --> 0:04:43.279 the forty six candidates do you want to take his place? 0:04:44.000 --> 0:04:46.720 The first question is decided by a simple majority, just 0:04:46.800 --> 0:04:48.960 like other ballot measures, but when it comes to the 0:04:49.000 --> 0:04:53.280 second question, the percentage requirements change. The replacement candidate doesn't 0:04:53.360 --> 0:04:56.160 need more than fifty percent to win, So if more 0:04:56.200 --> 0:04:58.240 than fifty percent of the voters say yes on the 0:04:58.279 --> 0:05:01.680 recall question, Governor knew Some must step down, even if 0:05:01.720 --> 0:05:05.160 he has more overall support than any other individual challenger 0:05:05.200 --> 0:05:08.320 on the ballot. The replacement question is determined by who 0:05:08.320 --> 0:05:10.640 gets the most votes among the challengers on the ballot, 0:05:10.640 --> 0:05:13.760 which Newsom cannot be on. So forty nine point nine 0:05:13.800 --> 0:05:15.960 percent of the voters can back Mr Newsom and he 0:05:16.000 --> 0:05:18.039 can still lose to someone who is supported by only 0:05:18.120 --> 0:05:22.240 say of the electorate or even a smaller fraction. For 0:05:22.320 --> 0:05:25.920 other California elections, including special elections triggered by the death 0:05:26.000 --> 0:05:29.160 or resignation of an official, a candidate cannot win without 0:05:29.200 --> 0:05:31.799 the support of a majority of voters. If a candidate 0:05:31.839 --> 0:05:35.000 doesn't win over fifty outright, then the top to compete 0:05:35.000 --> 0:05:38.839 in a runoff election. Not the case for California's recall process. 0:05:39.320 --> 0:05:42.200 Organizers of the recall campaign submitted two point one million 0:05:42.200 --> 0:05:46.040 signatures by the March seventeenth filing deadline. One million, seven 0:05:46.120 --> 0:05:49.599 hundred nineteen thousand, nine hundred signatures were ultimately determined to 0:05:49.600 --> 0:05:52.280 have been valid, which was enough to trigger the recall. 0:05:52.960 --> 0:05:56.159 The deadline for casting your vote is September. If the 0:05:56.160 --> 0:05:58.760 recall succeeds, the new governor would be in office for 0:05:58.800 --> 0:06:03.479 the remainder of Mr. Newsom term through January, and that 0:06:03.560 --> 0:06:07.520 leaves a lot of time for executive factory, especially considering 0:06:07.520 --> 0:06:22.320 the new front runner. Far right radio talk show host 0:06:22.400 --> 0:06:25.120 and frequent Fox guest Larry Elder, has emerged as the 0:06:25.200 --> 0:06:27.800 likely candidate to replace Newsom in the event the recall 0:06:27.880 --> 0:06:31.039 goes through. Elder, who was sixty nine, jumped into the 0:06:31.120 --> 0:06:34.560 race relatively late in the game during mid July. At 0:06:34.600 --> 0:06:36.240 that time, it was more of a toss up between 0:06:36.279 --> 0:06:40.039 Republican candidates Kevin Falconer, a former San Diego mayor, and 0:06:40.080 --> 0:06:42.880 businessman John Cox, who lost badly to Newsom in the 0:06:43.600 --> 0:06:48.000 gubernatorial election. Assemblyman Kevin Kylie and former athlete in media 0:06:48.040 --> 0:06:52.000 personality Caton Jenner pulled less well. But as Larry Elder 0:06:52.120 --> 0:06:54.719 entered the race, he almost immediately became the front runner 0:06:54.720 --> 0:06:57.520 in polls and raised lots of money from small donors, 0:06:57.839 --> 0:07:00.400 and the three weeks after he announced his campaign raised 0:07:00.400 --> 0:07:03.880 nearly four and a half million dollars according to fundraising disclosures. 0:07:04.400 --> 0:07:08.480 That's more than every other Republican challenger sans multimillionaire businessman 0:07:08.560 --> 0:07:12.240 John Cox, who's largely funding his own campaign. Elder has 0:07:12.280 --> 0:07:14.600 been a central figurehead of the right wing radio talk 0:07:14.600 --> 0:07:17.160 show scene since the nineties, but has always been hesitant 0:07:17.200 --> 0:07:20.120 to run for public office, deeming the state of California 0:07:20.280 --> 0:07:24.360 ungovernable due to its liberal supermajority, But after talking with 0:07:24.440 --> 0:07:27.320 his friend and mentor Dennis Praeger of the neo fascist 0:07:27.320 --> 0:07:30.440 propaganda outlet Praeger You, he figured it might be worth 0:07:30.480 --> 0:07:33.160 a shot, and has expressed desire to use the emergency 0:07:33.160 --> 0:07:35.560 powers of the governor to push the state right words. 0:07:36.200 --> 0:07:38.920 Elder was born in Los Angeles, but moved to Cleveland 0:07:38.920 --> 0:07:41.160 to attend law school and opened his own firm in 0:07:41.280 --> 0:07:44.680 nineteen eighty. Elder's career began as a bit of an accident. 0:07:44.920 --> 0:07:47.440 He'd been invited on a Cleveland station as a guest. 0:07:47.840 --> 0:07:49.840 He did so well on air that when the regular 0:07:49.880 --> 0:07:52.760 host went on vacation the following week, the program director 0:07:52.840 --> 0:07:55.760 asked Elder to fill in. Soon enough, Elder had his 0:07:55.800 --> 0:07:58.880 own weekly time slot on the Cleveland station. In the 0:07:58.880 --> 0:08:01.880 early nineties, a guest most from Los Angeles, Dennis Prager, 0:08:02.040 --> 0:08:05.360 visited Cleveland. Elder quickly impressed Praeger with his on air 0:08:05.400 --> 0:08:07.720 wit and talent, coupled with the uniqueness of a black 0:08:07.760 --> 0:08:12.360 man openly expressing extreme conservative views. Praeger persuaded his home 0:08:12.400 --> 0:08:15.600 station KBC in Los Angeles to give Elder a shot. 0:08:15.880 --> 0:08:18.760 Quoting the l a Times, Elder returned to his hometown 0:08:18.800 --> 0:08:21.800 in nineteen ninety four, two years after the civil unrest, 0:08:21.840 --> 0:08:24.480 following the acquittal of the officers who beat Rodney King, 0:08:24.760 --> 0:08:26.880 and in the midst of the O. J. Simpson murder case. 0:08:27.120 --> 0:08:30.160 The program director at rival k f I, David G. Hall, 0:08:30.280 --> 0:08:33.680 felt KBC made a creative move bringing on this guy 0:08:33.760 --> 0:08:36.160 from South Central who swung the other way on race. 0:08:37.120 --> 0:08:40.000 Almost from the beginning, the self proclaimed sage from South 0:08:40.040 --> 0:08:43.040 Central whipped up a fewer. He mixed sound bites from 0:08:43.040 --> 0:08:46.240 Representative Maxine Waters with a recording of a barking dog. 0:08:46.559 --> 0:08:50.000 He said, Blacks exaggerate the significance of racism, while women 0:08:50.000 --> 0:08:53.400 did the same in regards to sexism. For nearly four years, 0:08:53.400 --> 0:08:55.720 Elder has slapped many members of his own race in 0:08:55.720 --> 0:08:59.200 the face on radio, belittling them as whiners or losers, 0:08:59.240 --> 0:09:02.319 holding himself up as a model of African American excellence. 0:09:02.640 --> 0:09:04.959 He's become a darling of white listeners, who seemed to 0:09:05.000 --> 0:09:08.240 almost gush when they telephone him on k ABC Talk radio. 0:09:08.600 --> 0:09:10.720 They are astonished to find a black man who not 0:09:10.760 --> 0:09:13.480 only isn't going to chastise them, but who also often 0:09:13.520 --> 0:09:15.960 agreed with them, a black man who declared that race 0:09:16.080 --> 0:09:20.439 was no longer a significant factor in American society. Elder 0:09:20.480 --> 0:09:24.160 also doesn't believe that racial profiling exists. This is despite 0:09:24.160 --> 0:09:26.719 telling The Times editorial Board that police pulled him over 0:09:26.760 --> 0:09:29.319 between seventy five and a hundred times the first year 0:09:29.360 --> 0:09:33.760 he had his driver's license. Elder's regressive, provocative content angered 0:09:33.760 --> 0:09:37.240 mine Angelinos and black citizens of California led a boycott 0:09:37.240 --> 0:09:39.959 of advertisers on the show. It worked, and by the 0:09:40.040 --> 0:09:43.160 late nineties the show had begun losing millions in ad revenue. 0:09:43.520 --> 0:09:47.320 But thanks to syndication, changing networks, podcasts, and TV appearances, 0:09:47.360 --> 0:09:49.640 Elder has been able to remain a central figure of 0:09:49.640 --> 0:09:52.720 the right wing content sphere. He most recently starred in 0:09:52.720 --> 0:09:56.360 a video series for far right propaganda organization and literal cult, 0:09:56.559 --> 0:10:01.040 The Epoch Times. According to Elder's campaign, the central recall issues, 0:10:01.080 --> 0:10:04.520 he is focusing on our rampant crime rising homelessness, out 0:10:04.559 --> 0:10:08.720 of control costs of living, water shortages, disastrous wildfires, rolling 0:10:08.760 --> 0:10:12.440 brown outs, and repressive COVID restrictions. For this show, we'll 0:10:12.440 --> 0:10:14.560 be focusing on the last three as they relate to 0:10:14.559 --> 0:10:18.439 the rapidly shifting and hostile climate. For the past thirty years, 0:10:18.480 --> 0:10:21.600 Elder has been a classic conservative climate denier. He had 0:10:21.600 --> 0:10:24.280 a whole section of his website devoted to debunking the 0:10:24.360 --> 0:10:29.000 Gore bull warming myth like Al Gore bullshit warming myth. Yeah, 0:10:29.120 --> 0:10:31.880 it's a bad pun. In a CNN interview prior to 0:10:31.920 --> 0:10:34.360 the two thousand eight election, Elder called global warming a 0:10:34.480 --> 0:10:37.560 false myth, while disparaging and making fun of both John 0:10:37.640 --> 0:10:40.319 McCain and George W. Bush for discussing global warming is 0:10:40.320 --> 0:10:43.719 a serious issue. However, more recently, Elder has shifted his 0:10:43.800 --> 0:10:46.920 rhetoric around the climate. In an interview last month, he 0:10:46.960 --> 0:10:49.880 expressed belief that some warming is taking place, but by 0:10:49.960 --> 0:10:53.319 using old soft denialist talking points climate is always changing. 0:10:53.360 --> 0:10:55.120 Of course, the climate is changing. The question is what 0:10:55.120 --> 0:10:56.400 do we do about it? Do we deal with the 0:10:56.400 --> 0:10:58.520 effects of it, or do we force feed renewables based 0:10:58.520 --> 0:11:00.840 economy down the throats of people jacking up the price 0:11:00.840 --> 0:11:03.280 of energy a disproportionate pain for poor people. But of 0:11:03.280 --> 0:11:05.640 course there's climate change, and the climate is getting warmer, 0:11:05.679 --> 0:11:07.280 and maybe about a degree or so in the last 0:11:07.320 --> 0:11:10.320 several years, and it will likely continue. He adds, what 0:11:10.400 --> 0:11:13.680 I don't believe in is climate change alarmism. He also 0:11:13.760 --> 0:11:16.120 said that he was not sure whether climate change is 0:11:16.160 --> 0:11:19.360 making wildfires worse. Quote fires have gotten worse because the 0:11:19.360 --> 0:11:22.319 failure of this governor to engage in sensible fire suppression. 0:11:22.640 --> 0:11:26.880 Elder also blames California's rising housing costs on environmental extremists 0:11:26.920 --> 0:11:29.120 that jack up the cost of housing so that developers 0:11:29.120 --> 0:11:31.120 have to wait and wait and get sued over and over. 0:11:31.160 --> 0:11:33.080 Agains that finally, when the home is built, it's way 0:11:33.080 --> 0:11:35.680 more expensive than otherwise it would be without these environmental 0:11:35.760 --> 0:11:39.360 rules and regulations. Despite the slight back pedaling on climate 0:11:39.440 --> 0:11:42.240 for better media optics, his potential policies on the topic 0:11:42.240 --> 0:11:44.800 are just as horrendous as one might assume. In a 0:11:44.840 --> 0:11:47.439 recent video news conference, Elder declared that he would in 0:11:47.559 --> 0:11:49.680 the war on oil and gas and the attack on 0:11:49.720 --> 0:11:53.040 the logging industry, will also reducing regulation on fracking and 0:11:53.080 --> 0:11:56.520 stopping California's growing efforts to expand when in solar power, 0:11:56.760 --> 0:11:59.880 which he calls not very efficient. Elder did not men 0:12:00.040 --> 0:12:14.240 and climate change during his news conference. Water scarcity will 0:12:14.280 --> 0:12:17.520 be an increasingly severe concern for California in the coming years. 0:12:17.880 --> 0:12:20.920 Drought is already a major political talking point among voters 0:12:20.920 --> 0:12:23.720 and politicians, and it creates another rift between city folk 0:12:23.760 --> 0:12:26.760 and rural farmers. Farmers are having a harder time growing 0:12:26.800 --> 0:12:29.960 crops and feel threatened by water rationing. They're frustrated by 0:12:29.960 --> 0:12:32.880 the thought that the Democrats running cities will always prioritize 0:12:32.880 --> 0:12:36.880 pumping extra water into population dense areas. Meanwhile, people in 0:12:36.920 --> 0:12:38.960 cities are concerned they will be forced to cut back 0:12:38.960 --> 0:12:41.800 on personal water use, as almond farmers suck up tons 0:12:41.800 --> 0:12:45.200 of water to feed their droops. Just building more dams 0:12:45.200 --> 0:12:47.840 and water catchment systems or aquifers may seem like a 0:12:47.920 --> 0:12:50.959 solution and have done property. Some of those things might help, 0:12:51.200 --> 0:12:53.240 but they can't make up for a lack of rainfall 0:12:53.320 --> 0:12:56.800 and snow melt. Relying on river water has its own problems. 0:12:57.080 --> 0:12:59.520 Pulling too much from fresh water that flows through rivers 0:12:59.520 --> 0:13:01.880 allows for extra salt water to intrude from the bay 0:13:01.880 --> 0:13:05.920 and ocean salinity in the water negatively impacts local ecosystems 0:13:05.920 --> 0:13:08.360 and dirties what is supposed to be a freshwater source. 0:13:08.800 --> 0:13:12.720 Drought is simultaneously pushing migratory fish species like chinook salmon 0:13:12.760 --> 0:13:16.319 and steelhead trout closer to the brink of extinction. Large 0:13:16.400 --> 0:13:18.840 numbers of fish are dying off because the rivers they 0:13:18.840 --> 0:13:21.839 rely on as spawning habitats are too warm or too low. 0:13:22.600 --> 0:13:26.000 Anxiety around water, droughts, and crops as among the issues 0:13:26.080 --> 0:13:28.839 driving some people to vote yes on the recall. A 0:13:28.920 --> 0:13:31.800 poll conducted last July by the Public Policy Institute of 0:13:31.840 --> 0:13:34.960 California found that residents sited drought and water supply as 0:13:35.000 --> 0:13:38.760 their top environmental concern, with about twenty calling it their 0:13:38.840 --> 0:13:41.800 chief concern, which makes it pull well above the related 0:13:41.840 --> 0:13:46.800 problems of wildfires, air pollution, and climate change. Republican politicians 0:13:46.800 --> 0:13:49.360 have been using anxiety around drought to drum up support 0:13:49.360 --> 0:13:52.640 for the recall by blaming the current situation on Newsom. 0:13:52.679 --> 0:13:56.160 The original recall petition against Newsom from early warned that 0:13:56.240 --> 0:13:59.320 the governor quote seeks to impose additional burdens on our state, 0:13:59.440 --> 0:14:03.839 including rationing our water use. Last April, Governor Newsom did 0:14:03.880 --> 0:14:08.240 declare a drought emergency into northwest California counties. The order 0:14:08.280 --> 0:14:11.120 allowed state officials to restrict the amount of water diverted 0:14:11.120 --> 0:14:14.160 from the Russian River and authorized the relocation of fish 0:14:14.200 --> 0:14:18.160 stranded in drying puddles. The local county government asked residents 0:14:18.160 --> 0:14:21.000 to use no more than fifty gallons per day per person, 0:14:21.560 --> 0:14:25.480 but Newsom himself hasn't mandated water rationing for individual consumers, 0:14:25.640 --> 0:14:28.920 though he has asked Californians to voluntarily cut consumption by 0:14:28.960 --> 0:14:32.120 fifteen percent and has suggested that statewide restrictions could be 0:14:32.120 --> 0:14:34.840 on the table if conditions worsened heading into the fall, 0:14:35.600 --> 0:14:37.880 Newsom in the Department of Water Resources as a whole 0:14:37.920 --> 0:14:41.600 do have ideas in mind for tackling this issue. Last year, 0:14:41.720 --> 0:14:45.720 Newsom authorized an eleven billion dollar water infrastructure project building 0:14:45.720 --> 0:14:48.680 a single thirty mile tunnel under the Sacramento, San Joaque 0:14:48.720 --> 0:14:52.040 and River Delta. The project, which has been discussed for years, 0:14:52.160 --> 0:14:54.400 is being pushed forward in hopes that it will protect 0:14:54.440 --> 0:14:57.800 the delta's existing wetland ecosystem and supply enough fresh, clean 0:14:57.880 --> 0:14:59.720 water to be diverted south for the rest of the 0:14:59.760 --> 0:15:03.080 state eight but the tunnel concept has faced opposition both 0:15:03.080 --> 0:15:06.440 locally and from conservation minded folks. Some residents in the 0:15:06.480 --> 0:15:08.880 Delta regency it is just a water grab to meet 0:15:08.880 --> 0:15:12.320 the demands of southern California and the agriculture industry, while 0:15:12.320 --> 0:15:15.400 the needs of those up north are being ignored. Ecologically 0:15:15.400 --> 0:15:18.280 focused critics say it could still increase salinity in the 0:15:18.320 --> 0:15:21.760 Delta and result in notable harm for the ecosystem. Newsom 0:15:21.760 --> 0:15:24.600 has more recently discussed other action and legislation to help 0:15:24.680 --> 0:15:29.360 mitigate the continued drought, quoting the San Francisco Chronicle. In July, 0:15:29.520 --> 0:15:32.040 the governor signed a state budget that includes five point 0:15:32.080 --> 0:15:34.880 one billion dollars over four years for new water infrastructure 0:15:34.880 --> 0:15:38.240 and drought preparation projects, including money to repair delivery canals, 0:15:38.240 --> 0:15:42.880 help farmers irrigrate crops more efficiently, and start water recycling projects. Still, 0:15:43.000 --> 0:15:45.760 Newsom's recent actions have done little to quell anger among 0:15:45.760 --> 0:15:47.920 many farmers who stay the state's failure to plan for 0:15:47.960 --> 0:15:50.320 another major drought just a few years after it exited 0:15:50.360 --> 0:15:52.480 the last one has put them on the brink of ruin. 0:15:53.160 --> 0:15:56.360 Ernest Buddy Mendez, a lifelong farmer in Fresno County and 0:15:56.400 --> 0:15:59.560 Republican county supervisor, said he was forced to let hundreds 0:15:59.560 --> 0:16:01.400 of acres where he used to grow cotton and wheat 0:16:01.440 --> 0:16:03.680 dry up this year after his allotment of river water 0:16:03.760 --> 0:16:06.960 was slashed to zero. He's relying on groundwater pumped from 0:16:06.960 --> 0:16:10.080 wells to keep his grove of almond trees alive. Mendez 0:16:10.120 --> 0:16:13.240 said he hasn't decided whom to support as a replacement candidate, 0:16:13.240 --> 0:16:15.760 and the recall just that he will vote hell yeah 0:16:15.800 --> 0:16:18.880 to remove newsom. Let's face at Newsom. Damn is a 0:16:18.880 --> 0:16:21.920 four letter word, Mendez said, we haven't done anything in 0:16:21.960 --> 0:16:25.920 twenty years about building storage. California already does have one 0:16:25.920 --> 0:16:28.280 of the most extensive damn systems in the country, with 0:16:28.360 --> 0:16:32.040 nearly fifteen hundred reservoirs. Building new on river dams would 0:16:32.040 --> 0:16:35.760 cost billions of dollars if such efforts even survive legal challenges, 0:16:35.760 --> 0:16:38.000 which are all but guaranteed. Amid the struggle to save 0:16:38.160 --> 0:16:41.200 endangered fish species, there are not many areas left that 0:16:41.200 --> 0:16:43.480 would make sense or be sustainable to build a new 0:16:43.600 --> 0:16:47.280 large reservoir. One other, more cost effective solution could be 0:16:47.360 --> 0:16:50.760 to store more water collected during wet years and underground aquifers. 0:16:51.120 --> 0:16:53.040 One of the solutions to this problem is the same 0:16:53.080 --> 0:16:55.640 as the solution to a number of other climate related problems, 0:16:55.680 --> 0:16:57.760 which is that we simply have to cut the amount 0:16:57.760 --> 0:17:00.800 of resources we're consuming, whether that means using our energy 0:17:00.880 --> 0:17:03.640 use or cutting down on wasteful water use. You can 0:17:03.720 --> 0:17:07.520 only build so many dams. The trend of California farmers 0:17:07.560 --> 0:17:11.200 growing thirstier crops has made an existing problem much worse. Today, 0:17:11.240 --> 0:17:13.719 the state produces three times as many acres of almonds 0:17:13.760 --> 0:17:16.760 as it did twenty five years ago. With California most 0:17:16.800 --> 0:17:19.760 likely entering a third straight year of disappointing rainfall and 0:17:19.800 --> 0:17:23.080 snow melt, anxiety around drought and increased severity of water 0:17:23.119 --> 0:17:26.720 restrictions won't get any better, and if the Lenina weather 0:17:26.800 --> 0:17:29.000 pattern hits the West coast, as it's poised to, that 0:17:29.040 --> 0:17:31.199 would mean the western US will have a drier and 0:17:31.280 --> 0:17:35.040 hotter winter than average. Last August, water regulators made an 0:17:35.080 --> 0:17:37.919 unprecedented move to begin cracking down on water use in 0:17:37.920 --> 0:17:43.320 the sprawling Sacramento River in San Joaquin River watersheds, ordering farmers, 0:17:43.359 --> 0:17:46.719 water districts, and other landowners, including the City of San Francisco, 0:17:46.960 --> 0:17:49.000 to stop drawing water from the basins of the river 0:17:49.240 --> 0:17:51.800 or face penalties of up to ten thousand dollars a day. 0:17:52.359 --> 0:17:54.720 The city has enough water in its reservoirs to meet 0:17:54.760 --> 0:17:57.040 demand for at least a couple of years, and stored 0:17:57.080 --> 0:18:00.520 water is not affected by the state restrictions. Water agencies 0:18:00.560 --> 0:18:03.320 also can seek an exemption from curtailments of human health 0:18:03.400 --> 0:18:06.800 or safety or compromised. This does hit rural areas and 0:18:06.840 --> 0:18:10.280 agriculture the hardest because most cities have alternative supplies and 0:18:10.359 --> 0:18:13.960 stored water to tap into. Looking to attract voters, Larry 0:18:13.960 --> 0:18:16.560 Elder and other Republican challengers to NEWSOM have made it 0:18:16.600 --> 0:18:19.239 a recurring point to say that farmers should not have 0:18:19.320 --> 0:18:21.920 to endure such cuts, but they don't really give any 0:18:21.960 --> 0:18:25.760 perspective solutions to prevent rationing. When water levels at reservoirs, lakes, 0:18:25.760 --> 0:18:29.159 and wells are all plummeting. Larry Elder said drought is 0:18:29.200 --> 0:18:31.960 not inevitable and said he supports building more reservoirs and 0:18:32.040 --> 0:18:34.800 dams to store runoff, but he has also voice support 0:18:34.800 --> 0:18:40.160 for permitting to salinization projects. The salinization devastates ocean life, 0:18:40.200 --> 0:18:44.080 costs much more than other alternatives, and uses tons of energy. Also, 0:18:44.240 --> 0:18:47.000 soon it will be made obsolete by increasing focus on 0:18:47.040 --> 0:18:51.520 water recycling, explaining to salonization quickly ocean water is collected 0:18:51.520 --> 0:18:53.840 and run through pipes to remove the largest solids, and 0:18:53.880 --> 0:18:56.920 then pump through reverse osmosis filters to remove salt, while 0:18:56.960 --> 0:18:59.359 fish and other creatures die upon being sucked in or 0:18:59.400 --> 0:19:01.520 just from the four of the water flow. In a 0:19:01.560 --> 0:19:04.880 report studying it is salinization plant in the early two thousands, 0:19:05.119 --> 0:19:07.560 it was found that on average over a five year period, 0:19:07.760 --> 0:19:10.600 nineteen point four billion larva were caught up at intakes 0:19:10.640 --> 0:19:13.159 and about two point seven million fish, along with marine 0:19:13.160 --> 0:19:16.320 mammals and sea turtles, were killed by intake equipment. For 0:19:16.400 --> 0:19:19.600 every gallon of drinking water, desalinization leaves another gallon of 0:19:19.600 --> 0:19:22.879 salty brine behind. The plants then just mix that with 0:19:22.960 --> 0:19:25.840 two parts ocean water before pumping it back into the ocean. 0:19:26.400 --> 0:19:29.520 These measures can negatively impact the environment for this generation 0:19:29.560 --> 0:19:32.600 and generations to come. This type of resource extract of 0:19:32.720 --> 0:19:35.040 thinking reflects how we got into the problem in the 0:19:35.080 --> 0:19:38.479 first place. Battling over water allotments will only get us 0:19:38.520 --> 0:19:42.000 so far when dealing with lackluster rainfall. What can help 0:19:42.040 --> 0:19:45.000 is permaculture programs to help farmers learn ways to irrigate 0:19:45.040 --> 0:19:48.720 more effectively and cultivate healthier soils that retain water. Moving 0:19:48.720 --> 0:19:51.320 away from water heavy crops like almonds and towards more 0:19:51.359 --> 0:19:54.159 sustainable and moisture efficient crops must also be done if 0:19:54.160 --> 0:19:57.119 we want to stave off the worst effects. Putting Larry 0:19:57.160 --> 0:19:59.240 Elder in office won't make it rain, but it will 0:19:59.280 --> 0:20:01.960 put the state least another year further behind on taking 0:20:01.960 --> 0:20:05.840 the kind of action necessary to ensure California remains habitable. 0:20:09.960 --> 0:20:12.320 It could Happen here as a production of cool Zone Media. 0:20:12.560 --> 0:20:15.240 For more podcasts from cool Zone Media, visit our website 0:20:15.240 --> 0:20:17.359 cool zone media dot com, or check us out on 0:20:17.400 --> 0:20:19.960 the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you 0:20:20.000 --> 0:20:22.800 listen to podcasts. You can find sources for It could 0:20:22.800 --> 0:20:25.800 Happen Here, updated monthly at cool zone Media dot com 0:20:25.840 --> 0:20:27.760 slash sources. Thanks for listening.