Your action is needed today to help stop the Cadiz water project and to protect water and wildlife in the Mojave Desert!
We need your help to pressure California lawmakers that have been paid off by corporate interests seeking to destroy California!
We have some good news - yesterday, SB 120, the legislation that would help protect aquifers in the desert from being depleted for profit without adequate environmental assessments of the potential harm to desert water resources and wildlife dependent upon them, passed in the Assembly with a bipartisan vote of 45-20.
The bill should proceed to the Senate floor for a vote today or tomorrow, which is the last day of session.
Senate President Toni Atkins' support is critical to getting SB-120 passed in the Senate, but there are questions about whether or not she will provide that support.
"In June, [Cadiz] hired a lobbying firm led by Greg Campbell, former chief of staff to Senate leader Toni Atkins, who can stop the bill from getting a vote in the Senate. Cadiz hired three more lobbying firms this week, including one led by Justin Fanslau, Atkins' former legislative director.
"Atkins received several campaign contributions from Cadiz and people linked to the company last year, including $4,400 from the company, $1,000 from a Cadiz employee, and $11,150 from more than a dozen employees of the law firm Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck LLP, which owns shares of Cadiz, state records show."
We hope these factors do not affect her decision to do the right thing and pass SB-120 to protect the Mojave Desert. But it wouldn't hurt to remind all of our legislators that you're concerned and paying attention.
Three action items:
1) Please contact Sen. Atkins (916) 651-4039 and tweet her: @ToniAtkins
if you are a constituent you can reach her online: http://sd39.senate.ca.gov/contact
Suggested comments: "I'm calling to urge Senator Atkins to use her leadership to pass SB 120 to protect the Mojave Desert from Trump's fast-tracked Cadiz water project."
Also, please contact friends or family in Senator Atkins' San Diego/Del Mar/Naval/La Jolla SD-39 district and ask them to urge the senator to support SB 120.
2) Please also contact your own state senator http://findyourrep.legislature.ca.gov/ to ask for their support to please pass SB-120 to protect the Mojave Desert from Trump's fast-tracked Cadiz water project.
If you want an easy way to contact your state senator, please go HERE. Also, there is a pop-up action alert on our homepage that will connect you with this National Parks Conservation Association legislative letter link for a quick, easy way to reach your senator to ask their support for SB 120.
3) Please share this with everyone. If they live outside of California, they can still tweet to your senators to do the right thing.
Here is a link to a recent article:
Our thanks to desert defenders Julie Frost, Sara Lee, Jennifer Foy, David Lamfrom, Chris Clarke, Tom Egan, the NPCA, MBCA, MDLT, and all those who speak out on behalf of protecting our Mojave Desert.
Supporters of SB 120 include Senator Dianne Feinstein, Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom, Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, Moby, and the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation. Governor Jerry Brown has also urged lawmakers to approve a previous similar measure.
- The Desert Sun
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