Obama designates Calif. coastline as national monument

[bananas]

Source: The Hill

President Obama on Tuesday designated 1,600 acres of the California coastline as a national monument.

The designation of the Point Arena-Stornetta Public Lands nature preserve is the latest in a series of executive actions designed to advance the president;s environmental policies.

It will require federal authorities to develop management plan over the next three years to protect the region's dunes, bluffs, coastal prairies and tide pools.

<snip>

But the president's efforts are expected to accelerate this year, with the return of counselor John Podesta — former chief of staff to President Bill Clinton — to the White House.

After Republicans took control of Congress in 1994, Clinton used his executive authorities to implement environmental protections for federal lands. That included the move in 2000 to establish the California Coastal National Monument, which the Point Arena-Stornetta area will join.

<snip>

Read more: http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/e2-wire/200466-obama-designates-calif-coastline-as-national-monument

[mike_c]

1. I'm very happy about this....

eom

[jtuck004]

2. Very nice.

http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/fo/ukiah/stornetta.html <- pics - pretty place


And -if- this happens

...
Fukushima Radiation To Reach West Coast Next Month
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-03-09/fukushima-radiation-reach-west-coast-next-month
..

It will be interesting to see if the wildlife changes, or what the government's response, now charged with the health and welfare of the flora and fauna in that designated area, will be.

[villager]

3. This is good. Thank you, Mr. Obama!

[tofuandbeer]

4. :)

[Cleita]

5. But will this have the teeth to get rid of the oil platforms

and the proposed fracking?

[Brother Buzz]

11. Proposed fracking?

Fracking Waste is Being Dumped Into the Ocean Off California's Coast

by Chris Clarke
on February 26, 2014

ReWire has reported previously on a form of oil well enhancement in California that doesn't get much attention from the press, namely, offshore fracking. At least 12 rigs off the coast of California inject proprietary mixes of potentially dangerous chemicals into undersea rock formations at high pressure. They do this in order to break those rocks up which makes it easier to pump out the crude.

That's the process commonly known as fracking, short for hydraulic fracturing. The fluid pumped into the wells usually gets pumped back out again as wastewater. And if you suddenly have an uneasy feeling about where those offshore rigs dispose of that wastewater, you may well be correct. About half of the state's offshore rigs pump at least some of their wastewater right into the Santa Barbara Channel.

According to the Center for Biological Diversity, oil rig operators have federal permits to dump more than nine billion gallons of fracking wastewater into California's ocean waters each year. That's enough wastewater to fill more than 100 stadiums the size of the Rose Bowl brim-full of toxic waste. And CBD wants the Environmental Protection Agency to do something about it.

In a legal petition filed Wednesday, CBD is urging the EPA to rewrite those federal wastewater dumping permits to keep fracking waste out of the ocean, and to develop national guidelines for offshore rig wastewater disposal that address the threat from fracking chemicals.

"It's disgusting that oil companies dump wastewater into California's ocean," said Miyoko Sakashita, CBD oceans director, in a press release. "You can see the rigs from shore, but the contaminated waters are hidden from view. Our goal is to make sure toxic fracking chemicals don't poison wildlife or end up in the food chain."

<more>

http://www.kcet.org/news/rewire/petroleum/fracking-waste-is-being-dumped-into-the-ocean-off-californias-coast.html

[Cleita]

12. They did do it in the past and fessed up to it. I was at a meeting of the

California coastal commission where they held hearings about proposed new fracking in California in General. Those platforms in question who did do some fracking are out of reach of the State and are controlled by the Feds instead. I hope since this comes from Washington that it will cover this providing that the oil lobbyists don't prevail.

[rhett o rick]

6. This is good news. nm

[calimary]

7. Wonderful!!!

I think our entire coastline should be protected from reckless runaway development. Once you ruin those natural beauties, they're GONE.

This is GREAT news!

[SunSeeker]

8. Not just a national monument, a national TREASURE. nt

[WillyT]

9. HUGE K & R !!! - THANK YOU !!!

:donkey;

[dreamnightwind]

10. So I rec'd this as a good thing, but...

I am wondering about it, too.

One area of concern is that, as more and more of California's coast comes under such designations as Federal parkland, Federal national monuments, etc., and as Federal and State drug laws grow further apart, seems like a problem exists to me. Unless I am mistaken, any "crimes" committed on these lands are subject to federal law enforcement and judicial proceedings. Please, if I am wrong about this, I would love to be corrected, I claim no expertise on this. If I am right, though, it is a problem.

Though these areas are marked by signage, for locals it's just not something people think about much. One minute you're on state land, you walk a few feet, say to the Stinson Beach Grille to get a sandwich (overpriced but pretty good), and you're on federal land. It shouldn't make much difference, but as federal and state laws diverge, the consequences of someone engaging in a perfectly legal act under state law could be huge if the same act is performed a few feet away.

Here's another area of concern: Podesta and the Center For American Progress. For someone like me, who is a Democrat but is opposed to much of what my party does, the Center For American Progress is a large part of what is wrong with the party. Podesta has been in and out of a leadership role in that group, and also led Obama's transition team, which gave us the infamous "New Team" featured on the DLC website, to the chagrin of progressive Democrats.

It might well be ridiculous for me to bring this up in this context, but the article in the OP brings up the CAP "think tank", so it's at least on topic to that extent. I don't trust anything these people do, nor should you.

Donors to the CAP, though secret (what's up with that? it's more of a lobbyist front-group than a think-tank, that's what), apparently include Comcast, Walmart, General Motors, Pacific Gas and Electric, General Electric, Boeing and Lockheed, also Goldman Sachs and the Confederation of Businessmen and Industrialists of Turkey (TUSKON). This group, at its roots, is everything that I believe is wrong with the Democratic Party. Some good info can be found in this article: http://www.thenation.com/article/174437/secret-donors-behind-center-american-progress-and-other-think-tanks-updated-524

Is this relevant to the new national monument designation? Probably not, except for the drug law part. But I don't think I want people like Podesta in any role in government, they're corporate shills, ours, the happy face as opposed to the more wrathful manifestation of the corporate deities that run groups like Heritage Foundation. But make no mistake, it is part of the same beast.

[bvar22]

17. More about Podesta in this thread:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1017180424#post6

Podesta is the Rahm who stayed out of the spotlight.


[font size=5]
The DLC New Team
[/font]
(Screen Capped from the DLC Website)


DLC funded by Koch Brothers
http://americablog.com/2010/08/koch-industries-gave-funding-to-the-dlc-and-served-on-its-executive-council.html

[KoKo]

27. Here's list of Center for American Progress Funders as of 2013--Very Disturbing

I couldn't get Silverstein's article from Nation..(under paywall) but, searching came up with this list...which seems to list to Daily Kos...yet only comes up as a single page.

Maybe someone can find the Kos Diary this is from. But, if this is the accurate list of donors its a real "eye-opener" as to why Obama Administrations Policies have been so frustrating to many of us non-DLC Democrats....

I donated to CAP one or two times but started to get disillusioned with them and even removed myself from their e-mail alerts when it seemed they were different from the organization I thought would be our New Progressive Think Tank (Ha!)....now I know why. Their funding says much about who their policies benefit. Reads like a list of Bail Out Recipients Anti-Union, Anti-Labor Big Business Globilization Supporters, Insurance/Pharma along with ALEC and Media Conglomerates plus influential Law Firms.

No wonder we Left (used to be mainstream) Democrats are being screwed!

--------


News Community Action
Center for American Progress's Corporate Donors In One List
Friday, December 13, 2013 1:24 PM

http://www.dailykos.com/rss/tag:corporate%20funding.xml

Earlier today, the Center for American Progress provided the Huffington Post with a list of all of its corporate donors. Ken Silverstein, a fellow at Harvard's Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics, wrote on CAP's corporate funding in two excellent articles for the Nation earlier this year (See here and here) and then later for the Baffler. CAP's 10th anniversary conference notably received funding from Walmart and AT&T. The issue of corporate sponsorship of think tanks has gotten more traffic over the past few weeks. Elizabeth Warren wrote to the CEOs of the largest banks in the U.S., urging them to disclose their donations. And with John Podesta joining the administration, CAP was facing more pressure to release the information of its donors.

So here's the list:

Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP
The Albright Stonebridge Group
American Beverage Association
American Iron and Steel Institute
America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP)
Apple Inc.
AT&T
Bank of America
Blackstone
Blue Cross Blue Shield Association
Blue Engine Message & Media
Blue Shield of California
BMW of North America
CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield
Citigroup
The Coca-Cola Company
Comcast NBCUniversal
Covanta Energy
CVS Caremark Inc.
Daimler
Monitor Deloitte
DeVry Education Group
Dewey Square Group
Discovery
DISH Network
Downey, McGrath Group, Inc.
DRS Technologies
Eli Lilly and Company
Facebook
Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas
GE
Genworth Financial
The Glover Park Group LLC
Goldman Sachs
Google
Health Care Service Corporation
The Ickes and Enright Group
Japan Bank for International Cooperation
Kohlberg Kravis Roberts
Livingston Group
McLarty Associates
Microsoft Corporation
Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA)
MyWireless.org
Northrop Grumman
Pearson
PepsiCo
PG&E Corporation
Quest Diagnostics
Samsung
Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the United States (TECRO)
Tata Sons Limited
Time Warner Inc.
T-Mobile
Toyota Motor North America
Visa Inc.
Walmart
Wells Fargo

At least as of 2011, six of these were members of ALEC: AT&T, Bank of America,Eli Lilly and Company, Microsoft Corporation, Time Warner, and Visa.

[bvar22]

28. Sad but TRUE.

Follow the MONEY,
and too much of it from the wrong sources has found its way into too many Democrat's pockets in leadership positions since the Reagan Administration.

Explains a lot.

I, for one, will NOT Go Gently into that Good Night,
but others here are beating the marching drums.

[Cha]

13. Thanks Obama!

[flamingdem]

14. Grateful!!!

Love my CA

[OneCrazyDiamond]

15. Does anyone know how it effects

California Coastal Commission?

Feds trump?

[Tikki]

16. YAY…exemplary move.Thank you Mr. President. Our Coastline is a treasure.

Tikki

[llmart]

18. It is one of the most beautiful places in this country....

This is wonderful news from President Obama. I've driven part of the coastline only once in my life, but was overwhelmed with its beauty.

[Scuba]

19. Great move, thank you President Obama!

[jenmito]

20. That's my Prez! K&R. n/t

[ffr]

21. Good news and bad, given the stories above.

Best thing I can do is drive less, use less energy at home, although my electrical is now required to come from 100% renewable resources (I pay extra for that, but we all pay less in the long run because I do) and do everything I can to encourage others to do the same.

Fuck Fracking!

[yuiyoshida]

22. So this means we won't be seeing any of these?

I hope We never do....

[malthaussen]

23. Next move, frack it! n/t

[yankee dandee]

24. coastline

First: I left Salon because that "progressive" blog has turned into an online tabloid with nothing but fluff or near-porno garbage.

I'm hoping that the Democratic Underground is not that way also!

As a former California living in Georgia(OMG...long explanation) I know that the Repubs have drooled about paving the coast with hotels and removing the beaches.

Republicans see any bare spot as a loss of profits....and don't give a hoot about the future of places of beauty. In fact, they are disgusted by any natural setting that doesn't produce corporate profits.

[deathrind]

25. Very Cool.

Point Arena is an awesomely beautiful place. Pigeon Point is as well... In fact the entire coast line is from Crescent City all the way to San Diego is beautiful. Best road trip ever.

[tartan2]

26. Thank God for the President's ability to declare a national monument

we know this damn Congress would never allow it to be protected thru the National Park Service, but as a National Monument it is protected by the antiquities act, just as the President Teddy Roosevelt did for the Grand Canyon.

[KoKo]

29. BTW...sounds Good on on surface and sorry to sidetrack your post with CAP Funding..

issues but...like with many posts...something comes up that sets off further investigation.

Anyway...I truly hope this works out well for CA. As an East Coaster I'd like to see us have more federal protections since Oil & Gas Companies are planning on Fracking off East Coast from Maine through Florida. We have many federally protected National Seashore Parks and Sanctuaries....but, still not enough.

[bvar22]

30. a whopping 1600 acres?

Must be the back yard of a rich donor.

[SunSeeker]

31. It's a remote, stunning stretch of coast in Northern California.

No indication it involved donors. It's public land. If you don't want to thank Obama, thank amateur photographer Bob Wick. He has taken tens of thousands of pictures over the last 26 years, while working for the Bureau of Land Management. As he noted, "My photos did play a role in that people who weren't visually aware of how spectacular this coastline is could get a feel for it."

http://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/californias-spectacular-coast/

His amazing photos of the Point Arena-Stornetta Public Lands, which have been now designated a National Monument, can be seen at the above CBS link.

[Hekate]

32. Excellent. Keep on keeping on, Mr. President. nt