April 18, 2023
By Bari Levinson and Tracy Puckett
The Legislative Committee (LegCom) has been hard at work testifying in support of or opposition to bills based on Sierra Club values. The session is about halfway over, and bills have either made it out of the first committee, or have died. Here are some of our successes so far.
We supported all the following bills, which have passed the first committee votes:
- AB162:Ban on Pesticides containing Neonicotinoids (that kill bees)
- AB313:Requiring Mines to backfill Pit Lakes (to save groundwater)
- AB312:Development of an Environmental Justice Council
- SB427: Mitigation of Extreme Working Conditions (to prevent heat related illness)
- SB76- Ban on PFAS (forever chemicals)
- AB112- Funding for more wildlife crossings (to avoid wildlife-car collisions)
- AB131- Urban Forestry program (trees in low-income communities)
- AB109- Healthy Soil Initiative (education for farmers to avoid chemicals)
- AB220-Water Conservation (by elimination of some septic tanks)
- AB184- Clean Trucks and Buses ( electric powered)
And we had a blast during Conservation Lobby Day where about 20 of us lobbied our legislators in person in Carson City.
We are learning so much and hopefully making a difference for our environment and climate!