The courage to say no

Thanks for your letter, Ms. Normoyle, but it is quite amusing that you buried the lede. Not only did Alex Padilla support the bill – Alex Padilla was a cosponsor of the bill (https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/1462/cosponsors). It’d be a bad look (very common for Democrats) to vote against his own bill. And are you sure you want to hitch your wagon to Schiff’s horse? Schiff is under investigation for illegally leaking information. I’d say Schiff’s “no” vote encourages everyone else to vote “yes.” Except, perhaps, other Democrats under investigation for illegal deeds. Perhaps Schiff’s opposition will lead to Padilla’s opposition in the future of anything Schiff. That’d be a great development. I’m grateful Padilla had the courage to say yes. At least Padilla is not barging into news conferences and charging at Republican speakers and subsequently being taken down to the ground.

And we’ve gone through this before. The status quo regarding forest management that you’re in favor of didn’t work out too well for folks in Los Angeles County. Wouldn’t it be better if we can make use of trees instead of allowing wildfires to burn trees and houses and many other things standing in their way? You say you want to protect the climate and conserve biodiversity but wouldn’t we protect the climate from forest fires and conserve biodiversity if we prevent our forests from burning down in the first place? Wildfires will occur but we can limit the size and scope of these wildfires with proven fire and forest management techniques. We know the status quo doesn’t work. Will the “Fix Our Forests Act” work? Perhaps, but only if competent folks are in charge of it. Preferably a bipartisan bunch – like the legislation proposed.