John Laird Appointed Natural Resources Secretary

[Dezertfox]

Laird Appointed Natural Resources Secretary

Submitted by Lisa Lien-Mager on Wed, 01/05/2011 - 12:49pm in Water News

Gov. Jerry Brown has tapped former Assembly Member John Laird as the new secretary of the California Resources Agency.

Laird, who served in the Assembly from 2002 to 2008, most recently taught in the Environmental Studies Department at UC Santa Cruz. Prior to his time in the Assembly, Laird served in a number of local government positions in the Santa Cruz area. In 2010, he ran unsuccessfully in the special election to replace Senator Abel Maldonado in the 15th Senate District.

During his Senate campaign, Laird highlighted his strong environmental credentials, including his record on water management issues. A big proponent of water conservation, Laird introduced numerous bills aimed at reducing water use in California. AB 2496 and AB 715 both sought to phase in efficiency requirements for toilets. Laird also sought to tie water districts’ ability to receive state grant and loan funds to their adherence to certain conservation best management practices. In 2008, Laird introduced AB 2270, a measure that sought to regulate residential water softeners. AB 2270 was supported by ACWA but ultimately vetoed by the Governor.

Laird was not a member of the Legislature when the Comprehensive Water Package of 2009 passed.

While in the Assembly, Laird chaired the Select Committee on California Water Needs and Climate Change. Some of his other legislative accomplishments include a bill to create the Sierra Nevada Conservancy, as well as a law that requires state water agencies to develop a water use and measurement database. Notably, he was a co-author of AB 32, the landmark legislation that will regulate greenhouse emissions in California.

Laird was deeply involved in the legislative budgetary process, serving as Assembly Budget Committee Chair starting in 2004. His knowledge of the state budget should be an asset to the Resources Agency during California’s continued budgetary difficulties.

[Sal]

This is good news for the desert environment.

[Desertroad]

I'm in wait and see mode for pretty much all the recent changes of elected officials and their appointments.

The desert environment may benefit from changes in the political landscape, but I feel that the intelligent and equitable use of tax dollars may not fare so well. I maintain my position that if one wants real, effective environmental laws in this country, at some point healthy and fair government is vital to such efforts.

Healthy and fair government, IMHO, needs the money generated by human activity. Isolating the desert, or any ecosystem for that matter, is not an effective tactic in an overall environmental protection strategy. People whose taxes are being used to eliminate their access cannot help but feeling ripped off.

My suggestion is not necessarily more regulation, but a smarter approach. Education, training at the vehicle dealership level, and changes in land management policy. Achieving these reforms, again only my opinion, must involve the broadest consensus possible.

Of course, this is going to take time and money. Environmentalists claim we're running out of time, ask any land management agency and they'll tell you they simply don't have the funding to implement innovative programs.

I don't believe we're stuck. Just like every time I've found my truck hampered by a large rock, or some deep mud, or whatever, my focus becomes on solving the problem. That's actually part of my fun. My personal standards, however, are to not tear up the place just to get to where I'm going.

Likewise, I hope for civil dialogue to solve the problem of human access vs environmental protection. And I expect equitable solutions from our government. Adherence to ideology just isn't working.

IMHO

Desertroad

[Sandman]

I was living up on the Santa Cruz coastline back in the mid 70s and I remember the name from the local paper. My time was spent in the redwoods and on the north coast beaches and used the paper for kindling mostly. Back then, the abalone were easy to pick off the rocks during a low tide and the fishin was easy off the rocks. Never did see a warden and survived off of seafood, fresh fruit and veggies,beans and an occasional $2.00 authentic burrito from a little dive near the boardwalk. I believe Mr. Laird was known for being a rare public official who was.....ahem.....openly a little light in the loafers. Not common in 1975. So anyway, it's now 2011 and this guy has been around the political scene for a while. I still eat alot of seafood although most of it is caught down off the coast of Baja and haven't had good abalone tempura since I left Morro Bay in 1989. Designated OHV areas are an ideal location for the public to engage in whoop de doo riding. Limited use areas where ohv recreation is on designated roads and trails provide us public with ample oppertunity to explore our unique and beautiful country. The "technical" whoop de doo riders need a little more education and encouragement to ride in the OHV areas. "Encouragement" probably should include the option of an eye opening fine for whoo de doo riding in a designated trail only area. The real boneheads, well....they should take away the toy just like we do with an incorrigable child who refuses to behave. I had to leave Santa Cruz back in 77 and decided up some dirt road off a dirt road in the desert was a good place to go. I bought some land of my own in 79, but thats another story! Got any spare change?