Selected recent California newspaper
editorials
by The Associated Press
Aug. 24
(Los Angeles) Daily News : “Political stunts
no substitute for real reform”
It’s not surprising that, after three weeks,
the U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement Agency has killed its absurd “self-deportation”
program.
This scheme ... was doomed from the get-go,
and by design.
The pilot program, which operated in five
cities, offered illegal immigrants who are facing court orders to leave the
country 90 days to plan a “scheduled departure.” This was supposedly an
attractive offer as it would have allowed “self-deportees” to get their affairs
in order before they leave, and avoid the (highly unlikely) risk of being
arrested and detained.
But go figure: People who risked their lives
and limbs to come here weren’t going to leave for no particular reason.
So ICE officials can now pat themselves on
the back. For $41,000, they successfully nabbed the eight most gullible —
and probably the most harmless — illegal immigrants in the United States.
ICE’s plan failed not just because it was
laughable, but because illegal immigrants knew there would be no serious
consequences for not complying. They knew that while the occasional raids
create a stir, raids are few and far between — the U.S. government will
never have the means, nor the will, to forcefully deport some 12 million
people.
Which is to say, more “enforcement” of the
nation’s badly broken immigration laws alone is as much a nonstarter as
self-deportation. The laws themselves must be fixed.
Among the ... illegal immigrants whom
self-deportation failed to nab are gangbangers and other criminals who
terrorize our streets. So, too, are millions of otherwise law-abiding,
hardworking people who lack practical means to enter the country legally. The
current system leaves them unlicensed and uninsured on our roads, vulnerable to
exploitation and invisible.
Stunts and point-proving displays of Washington’s
impotence are no substitute for real, comprehensive immigration reform.
Once again, ICE has turned up cold.
___
Aug. 26
The Sacramento Bee: “Paper, plastic or bring
your own”
Beginning in the 1970s, disposable plastic
bags were seen as more environmentally friendly than paper bags. So stores
began the shift to plastic.
Today, shoppers still get asked, “Paper or
plastic?” But both choices come with negative effects. The production of all
single-use disposable bags, whether paper or plastic, entails lots of energy
and resources. And both have dismal recycling rates (10 percent to 15 percent
of paper bags and 1 percent to 3 percent of plastic bags, according to the Wall
Street Journal).
Now, the most common disposable bags are made
of plastic, so it gets the most attention. These bags, made of polyethylene, an
oil-based thermoplastic, take about a thousand years to biodegrade. They end up
in landfills and, worse, the ocean. But paper bags still take more energy to
produce and cost more for stores.
California, with its long coastline littered
with white bags, needs a better approach, one that encourages people to make
informed choices between disposable and reusable bags.
A bill before the California Legislature
would adopt Ireland’s market-based approach. Beginning in January 2010,
Assembly Bill 2769 would require California stores to collect a 25-cent tax on
all disposable bags, paper or plastic. Stores would get 5 cents for every
plastic bag and 10 cents for every paper bag. The balance would go to a Bag
Pollution Fund to clean up the litter caused by single-use carryout bags and
encourage the reduced use of single-use disposable bags.
AB 2769 would provide shoppers with a choice:
Bring reusable bags or pay the true cost of a disposable bag. That should shift
market behavior — and help the environment, too. The Senate should pass
AB 2769, and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger should sign it.
___
Aug. 26
Contra Costa Times: “Protect farmworkers”
About three years ago, California lawmakers
addressed a terrible trend that this state was leading the nation in
heat-related deaths among farmworkers. But, now those laws have become
ineffective and virtually useless.
Under the laws, farmworkers are suppose to
receive the basics like a water break or even an umbrella for shade, things
they should be getting law or no law. Instead, many farms in this state have
made conditions worse, and the results are deadly.
In the three years since the legislation there have been 12 farmworkers
who have died in suspected heat stroke deaths, nearly twice the number in the
three years before the laws were passed. This year alone, there have been six
such deaths.