Assemblyman Dahle Disagrees With Columnist Scheide
By Brian Dahle November 16, 2018 12
In a recent column, R.V. Scheide complains that I have done "Nothing for the 1st District" to address the growing crisis of wildfires and community safety in the North State.
He should try doing some research before writing his next column.
This year, as a member of the Wildfire Preparedness Conference Committee, I was very closely involved in the negotiations that led to Senate Bill 901, which will invest $1 billion in state money over the next five years in wildfire prevention, response and recovery. This is the largest state investment in fuel breaks, prescribed fire, and other wildfire-safety measures in many years, maybe ever. It also streamlines state regulations that add to the cost of urgently needed work to keep communities safe, and raises the safety standards for electric utilities.
In 2016, I won an amendment to Senate Bill 859 that helped prevent the closure of biomass power plants around the North State, helping preserve critical infrastructure that helps us manage our forests. Those contracts were further extended by SB 901. (Scheide could have learned about that effort from past articles on ANewsCafe.com.)
I am a longtime supporter and former board member of the Sierra Nevada Conservancy, a state agency that has worked tirelessly to promote the importance of restoring and enhancing our mountain forests for the benefit of both downstream water users and neighboring communities.
In the past six years in the Legislature, I have brought more than a hundred other members from both parties to the 1st Assembly District to give them a firsthand understanding of rural Northern California and the issues our residents face. Dozens have been on the Klamath Alliance for Resources and the Environment's tour in Siskiyou County to spend a few days in the woods and see what modern forestry is like on the ground. That effort to build relationships and educate my fellow members of the Legislature has paid real dividends.
It is heartbreaking that our wildfire risk had to reach a deadly crisis point before a majority of the Legislature woke up to the need. It took many years of neglect for our landscape to reach the state it is in. Making our communities safe again will take time and we have much more work to do. I will continue doing all I can to steer state resources toward this vital effort.
Assemblyman, 1st District
It comes as no surprise to me that Mr. Dahle's response to my column on anthropogenic climate change and California's forests doesn't mention the phrase "climate change" once. Yes, I am aware that Mr. Dahle has worked on this issue in the state Senate–that was my point in the article. He's aware of the research, apparently believes it, but can't seem to say it out loud in public.
Steven Towers says:
Mr. Dahle, I'm okay with you being peeved that R.V. painted you in broad reddish-orange strokes as a do-nothing representative when it comes to mitigating wildfire risk. You're certainly not a do-nothing of LaMalfa's caliber.
But sorry, Mr. Dahle…..much of R.V.'s criticism sticks. You belong to a party that has largely withdrawn the United States from combatting anthropogenic global warming. Your party is led by anti-science AGW deniers. You appear to be fearful of contradicting and offending those party leaders, corporate campaign donors, and the majority of your Fox News-believin' constituents.
Further, whatever slight of R.V.'s that thumped your nose, it pales in comparison with the magnificently ignorant and insulting Twitter-fart issued by your Supreme Leader. You know…. the tweet in which he blamed do-nothing Californians (that would include you) for our fire woes, and threatened to cut off federal funding–even as Northern Californians were being burnt alive in their homes and cars. I would say R.V.'s slight is vanishingly small compared with that. Where's your anger at Herr Drump?
You could have used this op-ed to refute Herr Drump's idiotic proclamations, which obviously pack more punch than a few lines about you on an obscure web-based news outlet. You could have announced a partnership with Congressman LaMalfa to address California's fire risk on state and federal public lands in a way that acknowledges reality (as opposed to the fantasy that all we need is more logging). You could have said that it's time to move beyond the debate over AGW and confront the obvious results of climate change that challenge California.
Sorry that you're offended by R.V.'s slight, but you're fighting the wrong fight. The problem is the idiots in your own party who keep pouring gasoline on the fire. If you're inclined to complain, complain to LaMalfa that he does nothing to ensure that the US Forest Service is adequately funded to address these issues. LaMalfa says and does nothing as most of the Forest Service's fixed annual budget increasingly gets chewed up putting out fires, leaving nothing in the bank for addressing fire prevention. Meanwhile, Herr Drump offers up budgets that cut the Forest Service's funding–there's something worthy of your outrage, Mr. Dahle.
Candace C says:
Dear Assemmyman Dahle,
I have no doubt you work hard for your constituents. At this point I'm begging you. If you haven't already be the guy to buck your party's climate change deniers loudly and often. This shouldn't be a political debate about who's done what and how much. We're on a timetable and I'll tell ya, I'm scared.
*Assemblyman Dahle (sorry for the spelling error in my first post.
Michael Kielich says:
Thank you Brian Dahle for the hard work that you do. Thanks for taking the time to let us voters know what you are doing to address the problems related to California's increasing problems with devastating fires. I am an independent voter and I have no problem voting for both sides of the aisle, but I have strong feelings on the matter of climate change and it does have a large impact on my decisions. In fact, I live in French Gulch, which is at the epicenter of the now extinguished Carr fire.
The issue of climate change has to do with the future of my children and those of the world. I would like them to be able to enjoy the blessings of living in or near intact ecosystems as my life has been rewarded by a life spent in nature. Climate change is not the only factor in the current sad state of our forests, but is is certainly the overarching catalyst that influences it all.
I don't agree with the Republican bashing that many on this website lean towards, we need to find common ground and listen. Most Americans that I talk to tend to be somewhere close to the middle of the aisle. With that said, I do think that Donald Trump is beyond the pale of what we should accept as a leader for our country. The Republican party needs to stand up to his divisive brand of overtly narcissistic politics. Rather than send his condolences to our state for the recent fires, he used it as an opportunity to make an inconsiderate comment against a blue state that challenges his ego.
I have to agree with Steve Towers, you are fighting the wrong fight. At least publicly, you seem to deny the undeniable, and scientifically proven fact, that the current accelerated rate of climate change is being caused by humans. Even if you just wanted to err on the side of caution, it still makes sense. How many record-breaking climate induced catastrophes will it take for our country to agree with what almost the entire rest of the world's countries have agreed with, and are collectively trying to do something about?
If my house is falling down, I am going to trust the diagnoses of the professionals to assess the causes, not the people whose opinions (and bedfellows) expose where their true interests lie.
It angers me to see a man like Andrew Wheeler, who outright denies man-made climate change and was a lobbyist for the coal industry, being put forth by the president as the best our country has to run the EPA. What a joke!
I am weary of politicians who refuse to speak the truth to power. On the other hand, with the current POTUS in office, going against him is obvious political suicide… UNLESS enough representatives in the Republican party decide to act together and challenge a leader who seems to care less about our democratic institutions than his own brand of cult politics.
I encourage you to read more about the overwhelming scientific proof about anthropogenic climate change and make a difference for the future of our children. I have to assume that some, if not many Republicans, already believe in man-made climate change and must do what they can without coming out on record.
Once again, thank you.
Michael Kielich – French Gulch, California
Going against the Republican party is political suicide in District 1, just ask Maurice Johanssen or Dick Dickerson. But in other red areas siding with Trump caused a blue wave to win victory. Here in Arizona despite Trump and other top Republicans coming here and promoting Republicans the moderates voted for the Democrats. A new Democrat in the Senate and several new House members benefited from the anti Trump feelings here.
Dahle can follow the lead of Jeff Flake and denounce Trump and resign and be out of politics. Until the political climate changes in District 1 Republicans have to follow the party line.
Hollyn Chase says:
hmmmmph.
I wonder if the Assemblyman will respond to the very valid responses to his column.
I'll keep checking.
still checking. hmmmm . . . seems like Mr. Dahl is better at speaking his mind than listening. Sadly, this seems to be the case with many of our government representative.
I'll wager this op-ed wasn't written by Assemblyman Dahle, and he's not personally reviewing the comments. $5 gets you $10 if you want to take that bet.
(Not that either of us could prove it one way or the other.)
I'll pass on that bet. As usual, I suspect you're right.
Frank Treadway says:
And Mr Dahle was the Minority Leader for 2 yrs and what did he get passed with his name on it ? Research will only tell us. What across the aisle action did he ask his fellow Repubs to engage in ? Only research will reveal. Ask him why the unions cut him off this last election. And now he's asking North State voters to whisk him in to the State Senate, where he'll face a Democratic Super Majority, plus one; where he'll have no political power. If he doesn't follow the shoot-ourselves-in-the-foot mantra of the State Repub Party, he'll be cut of from monies when he wants to run for Congress. And yes, that's where he's headed. Another place holder for the North State citizenry. Shasta Co is currently in the Red column, but it isn't long before those demographics will change. It's a comin'.
Tags: Brian DahleR.V. Scheide