ACTION ALERT:
Ask Senator Harris for Her Position on Calvert’s Tunnels Litigation Ban Rider; Tweet Attorney General Becerra
On Wednesday, the draft Interior, Environment, and Appropriations spending budget for Fiscal Year 2019 was approved by the full Interior committee and will head to the House floor in the coming days.
Yet, the bill will enter the House with a significant change—Representative David Valadao (R-Hanford) added a second rider to the spending bill that would exempt the Central Valley Project and State Water Project from judicial review as well.
So how can you help? To start, take the next five minutes to Call Senator Kamala Harris’s D.C. Office and ask for her position on Congressman Calvert’s rider that would ban litigation on the Delta tunnels project. For example:
“What is Senator Harris’s position on Congressman Calvert’s rider that seeks to ban all litigation against the Delta Tunnels project included in the Interior spending bill?
“Does Senator Harris plan on taking a public position?”
“I would like to encourage Senator Harris to take a public position against Calvert’s destructive rider as it violates due process and strips Delta communities of their right to representation.”
Senator Harris’s D.C. Office: Phone (202) 224 – 3553
Second, you can tweet or call Attorney General Becerra and remind him that environmental justice communities in the Delta need and deserve protections. For example a phone call could sound like this:
“While I greatly appreciate that the State is pursuing much-needed litigation against the Federal Government to protect farmworkers from weakened toxin standards, environmental justice (EJ) communities in the Delta must not be forgotten. If Congressman Calvert’s federal rider in the Interior spending bill for Fiscal Year 2019 gets approval from the Senate, Delta EJ communities will no longer have the legal protections they need to preserve their water quality, resulting in a Flint-like crisis. Without legal review of the CA WaterFix, EJ communities will be stripped of their right to representation and their human right to clean water. Please step in and stop this rider from passing the Senate. Thank you.”
Attorney General Becerra’s Public Inquiry Unit:
Voice: (916) 210-6276 or Toll-free in California: (800) 952-5225
While a tweet to AG Becerra could look like this:
“Hi @AGBecerra, #Delta EJ communities need you to step in and protect their right to representation and right to #cleanwater by stopping the rider in the Interior’s spending bill for FY 19 that would ban further #litigation on #deltatunnels as it goes to the House floor. Thanks!”
Attorney General Becerra’s Twitter handle: @AGBecerra
Stay tuned in the coming days as this bill is brought to the House floor and the Senate. We will keep you updated as information becomes available to us.
Again, we thank you for your vigilance, your passion to protect the Delta, and for doing your civic duty to protect democracy.
Yours in Service,
Restore the Delta