Why isn't Joe Canciamilla working for the environment?

The 2004 legislative session was a decidedly mixed bag for Californians who care about forests, clean water, and public health.

Not surprisingly, we got little help from Republican legislators who almost never support environmental bills. But, you may be surprised to learn that one of the biggest impediments to the passage of good environmental legislation are the "Business Democrats" or "Mod-Squad". These are business-leaning Democrats who are consistently the swing votes on environmental legislation. Far too often the Sierra Club's sponsored bills live, die, or are rendered irrelevant by their vote.

The leader of the Mod Squad in 2004 was Assemblymember Joe Canciamilla of the 11th Assembly District, which includes the Contra Costa communities of Antioch, Clayton, Concord, Hercules, Pinole, Martinez, Pittsburg, and San Pablo.

While the Bush administration worked hard to weaken and eliminate environmental protections nationwide, Canciamilla and the Mod-Squad worked hard in California to do the same. At a time when we needed our local elected leaders to stand up to the Bush administration and protect California's environment, Canciamilla and his cronies worked behind the scenes to kill environmental bills before they came to a floor vote, or to weaken them into insignificance.

As chair of the powerful Assembly Water, Parks, and Wildlife Committee, Canciamilla was in a unique position to support state laws to fill the void left by Bush. He had significant power and influence to stop bad bills and pass good ones. Instead, Canciamilla's environmental voting record is among the worst for Democrats in the entire Assembly. In 2004 alone he:

voted against AB 1006, a law to protect school children from cancer-causing pesticides;
helped defeat SB 1477, a bill that would have blocked (within California) the Bush administration's rollbacks of wetland protections that affect California's clean drinking water and recreational opportunities; in fact, the bill died in the committee that Canciamilla chaired;
led the charge, along with the "Mod Squad", against AB 1940, which would have required chemical companies to divulge information that would have improved detection methods for potentially harmful chemicals produced in California;
failed to vote on SB 1327, a bill to prevent toll roads from being built through state parks; the bill failed by one vote - Canciamilla's;
was the only Democrat not from an agricultural district to vote against SB 391, which holds pesticide applicators liable for medical costs when their pesticide drifts make people sick. SB 391 was signed by the governor.

In 2002 Joe Canciamilla was given a score of only 60 out of 100 by the respected California League of Conservation Voters. In 2003 he raised his score to 76, but by 2004 his CLCV score plummeted to 58. Only three Democrats in the entire Assembly scored lower. By contrast, all other Bay Chapter area assemblymembers (including some Business Democrats) scored 100 except for Leland Yee (88), Ellen Corbett (88), and John Dutra (75).

Canciamilla's list of campaign contributors reads like a "Who's Who" of logging interests, building-industry groups, oil and gas corporations, and agricultural-industry interests. Contributors include Georgia Pacific Corporation, the California Cattlemen's Association, the California Building Industry Association, Exxon Mobil Corporation, and a host of other industry groups that oppose limits and accountability for their activities.

Voters in the San Francisco Bay Area expect more from their elected representatives. While Joe Canciamilla is no longer chair of the Water, Parks, and Wildlife Committee, he is still in a position to influence his colleagues in the Assembly to do a better job of cleaning up our air and water, protecting our children from toxics, and preserving natural resources.

What You Can Do

Please contact Joe Canciamilla at (925) 372-7990 (Martinez) or (925) 602-1532 (Concord) or

Let him know how you feel about his stance on the environment, and tell him to do a better job of protecting Californians' health and natural environment. If you live in his district, identify yourself as a constituent.

Visit the Sierra Club California web site at www.sierraclubcalifornia.org

Pat Veesart, state chapter liaison, Sierra Club California