Budget cuts, staff reductions and other sweeping changes from the federal government are posing real threats to California\u2019s environment and progress against climate change, state officials said Thursday.<\/p>\n
At a gathering of the state\u2019s top leaders in wildfire response, water resources, natural lands and clean energy, they underscored the ways the Golden State has long worked together with federal agencies \u2014 and how actions by the Trump administration are putting that cooperative work in jeopardy.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want federal agencies to succeed, and in fact we need them to succeed,\u201d said Wade Crowfoot, California\u2019s natural resources secretary, noting that 48% of the state\u2019s land is owned and managed by the federal government. \u201cBecause if they fail, it impacts the prosperity and safety of Californians.\u201d <\/p>\n
State agencies such as the Wildfire and Forest Resilience Task Force, the Department of Water Resources and the Energy Commission are among those struggling to keep up with the rapid pace of federal cutbacks, officials said. The Trump administration has said its changes are geared toward reducing federal waste, saving taxpayers money and increasing American energy independence. <\/p>\n
Yet state officials are increasingly worried about shifting national priorities, including a 10% staffing cut at the U.S. Forest Service<\/a> \u2014 the largest federal firefighting entity that often works hand in hand with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection to manage forests and combat blazes. Many of the Forest Service\u2019s eliminated employees were in support roles, such as logistics and transportation, that are crucial to ensuring firefighters can do their job, according to Patrick Wright, director of the California Wildfire and Forest Resilience Task Force. <\/p>\n \u201cAll that knowledge is going to be lost that is so critical when we\u2019re both fighting fires and trying to prevent fires, so the whole system is going to suffer,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n Wright noted that the president\u2019s proposed 2026 budget would also eliminate many of the Forest Service\u2019s top scientists, which he said would negatively affect data systems, analyses and other crucial tools. And although California has made progress in its efforts to improve forest health and reduce wildfire risk through forest thinning, prescribed burns and fuel breaks, Wright said he is concerned about the impacts of the president\u2019s order to open up millions of acres of national forestland<\/a> for timber production, including all 18 of California\u2019s national forests<\/a>. <\/p>\n \u201cNot that timber isn\u2019t important, but we can\u2019t keep our eye off of the need for fire and forest resilience in California,\u201d he said. There is \u201cserious concern by Forest Service people on the ground that if we solely focus on timber, we\u2019re going to lose our focus on protecting communities, preventing wildfire, protecting habitat and other key measures of success.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s not only wildfires that officials are worried about, however. Karla Nemeth, director of the California Department of Water Resources, said the agency is reeling from several changes to key components of its water supply system.<\/p>\n Among them are staff reductions at the federal U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, which oversees the Central Valley Project \u2014 a vast network of dams, reservoirs and canals that delivers water supplies across the state. The Central Valley Project is the federal companion to the State Water Project, which performs a similar function. <\/p>\n This year, the Bureau of Reclamation has lost about 1,400 staff members<\/a> \u2014 or more than a quarter of its workforce \u2014 and is facing a potential budget cut of 33%, Nemeth said.<\/p>\n \u201cBecause a lot of our infrastructure is operated in a cooperative way, it does have an expanded effect on how our whole system is put together,\u201d Nemeth said.<\/p>\n The state also works closely with the Bureau of Reclamation to manage flood protection in California, where several levee and dam safety projects are now in jeopardy, Nemeth said. They include projects to enhance the system along the American River in Sacramento \u2014 one of the most flood-prone urban areas in the U.S. \u2014 and to address the devastating 2023 levee breach that flooded the community of Pajaro<\/a>.<\/p>\n Other state leaders, including Armando Quintero, director of California State Parks, shared similar fears. He said the National Park Service is facing a potential $1-billion budget cut and has lost 24% of permanent staff since January. More than 100 superintendent positions are vacant. It\u2019s resulted in canceled tours, closed campgrounds, reduced hours and other effects in California\u2019s nine national parks.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, all 18 of California\u2019s national forests are losing staff, and its regional office is likely to be eliminated, he said. The state\u2019s roadless areas<\/a> and national monuments<\/a> are similarly facing the threat of lost protections and closures. <\/p>\n Jenn Eckerle, deputy secretary for oceans and coastal policy at the California Natural Resources Agency, said the state is facing the loss of funding for coastal protection, including about $870 million previously awarded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency<\/a>\u2018s Building Resilience Infrastructure and Communities grant program, which has been canceled. <\/p>\n One such project was an $18-million BRIC grant to help the city of Imperial Beach protect infrastructure, habitat and coastal access from sea level rise through a nature-based levee<\/a>, Eckerle said.<\/p>\n \u201cObviously these actions are going to hamper California\u2019s ability to predict, respond and adapt to climate impacts like sea level rise, ocean acidification, marine heat waves, and will lead to impacts for our coastal economies and ecosystems,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n Perhaps one of the biggest areas to suffer is California\u2019s ambitious push for clean energy<\/a>. The state has committed to achieving carbon neutrality by 2045<\/a> throughout its economy and has been a nationwide leader in the move toward solar and wind power and electric vehicles. <\/p>\n Robert Chun, chief of staff to the chair of the California Energy Commission, said the Trump administration has made moves to end long-standing tax credits for clean energy. They will apply only to projects placed into service by December 2027, or that start construction by July 2026. <\/p>\n The administration is also canceling $3.7 billion in awards managed by the Department of Energy\u2019s Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations \u2014 at least $800 million of which was supposed to go to California, Chun said. That office\u2019s staff has been reduced from about 250 people to 35, he said.<\/p>\n He added that the Trump administration has removed basic energy efficiency regulations that have existed for decades, and has made it harder for California to reduce pollution by revoking waivers it is granted under the Clean Air Act to <\/a>enforce tailpipe emission standards.<\/p>\n Chun said the result of these changes is likely to be worse air quality, higher energy costs, reduced grid reliability and limited growth for new industries such as artificial intelligence. However, he said he remains optimistic about the state and nation\u2019s progress toward clean energy, which he sees as inevitable.<\/p>\n \u201cThey can slow the transition to clean energy here and there, but they can\u2019t stop it,\u201d Chun said. \u201cWe shouldn\u2019t back down from our vision of a clean energy future, or lower our expectations for what we can achieve here in California.\u201d<\/p>\n Indeed, state officials said there are ways to push back. California is party to several lawsuits against the Trump administration, including one challenging its attempt<\/a> to overturn the state\u2019s clean air waivers. The state is also working to hire laid-off federal employees<\/a>, particularly those who were working on crucial projects. <\/p>\n Last month, conservation groups across the state and country also came together to push back against a GOP-led proposal to sell off millions of acres of public lands<\/a> in Western states, which would have made about 10 million acres in California eligible for sale. Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), who spearheaded the effort, ultimately nixed the proposal<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cCalifornia remains committed and focused to our priorities and our values,\u201d said Crowfoot, the state\u2019s natural resources secretary. He encouraged residents to stay informed, voice their concerns to public officials and work to build broad-based bipartisan coalitions to amplify shared priorities when it comes to the state\u2019s environment.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat we\u2019re talking about today,\u201d he said, \u201care things that we all care about.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Budget cuts, staff reductions and other sweeping changes from the federal government are posing real threats to California\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":56886,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5123],"tags":[1582,276,854,19728,746,32499,41668,41666,2961,224,5337,41664,19915,41667,41665,290,41663,4352,11003],"class_list":{"0":"post-56885","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-california","10":"tag-clean-energy","11":"tag-director","12":"tag-environment","13":"tag-fire-protection","14":"tag-forest-resilience-task-force","15":"tag-karla-nemeth","16":"tag-la","17":"tag-los-angeles","18":"tag-losangeles","19":"tag-permanent-staff","20":"tag-progress","21":"tag-reclamation","22":"tag-robert-chun","23":"tag-state","24":"tag-state-official","25":"tag-trump-administration","26":"tag-wildfire"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114834714875151846","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56885","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=56885"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56885\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/56886"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=56885"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=56885"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=56885"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}