In a letter to the California Legislature and Governor, MBCA joined 127 organizations and community leaders requesting they repeal Public Utilities Code Section 739.9 that requires public utilities to add a fixed charge to electricity bills based on customer income. “That would be three to twelve times the national average for such a fixed charge.” While the premise of income-based charges sounds positive, the letter includes a link to a study that demonstrates how such action will have negative financial consequences over time for many in the population it allegedly would aid. In addition, this provision of the Budget Bill was enacted without any public hearings or discussion. The short letter provides background information and links to helpful documents explaining the position of the signers.

The Joshua Tree National Park Association announced Idavid Graficks as recipient of the 2022 Minerva Hoyt Desert Conservation Award, honoring both owner David Fick and the late Ida Foreman Fick, partners in life, business, and an unending commitment to environmental preservation. David has been an MBCA Director for more than two decades. He joins previous recipients affiliated with MBCA including the original award recipient and MBCA's founder Susan Lucky Reilly (2004), Ruth and Steve Rieman (2012), and Pat Flanagan (2017). The Association's Press Release details David's long-time dedicated advocacy that we within MBCA know so well. An award ceremony is expected to be held in late September. 

MBCA is among four regional conservation non-profits recommending together in this letter that the draft of the San Bernardino County Regional Conservation Investment Strategy be edited to meet statute requirements regarding quantifiable goals and gap analysis. In addition, MBCA along with Mojave Desert Land Trust, California Desert Coalition, and The Wildlands Conservancy suggest the use of the 2012 Morongo Basin Conservation Priorities Report to enrich the evaluative data for habitat value. 

Once again MBCA and many other concerned organizations have made an appeal to prevent the export of precious desert water by Cadiz, Inc. They have again requested permission from the Bureau of Land Management for right-of-way access to an existing pipeline. The letter signed by MBCA and 45 other groups summarizes the harm that would be caused and notes a previous denial of permission that had been granted under the Trump administration and requests another denial. (You can read a number of prior MBCA News posts about Cadiz by using our SEARCH function.)