Lawmakers urge Biden and FEMA to declare drought disaster in West
26 August 2021
California Rep. Jared Huffman and fellow Democratic Rep. Joe Neguse from Colorado are urging President Joe Biden to declare a drought disaster in the West.
Driving the news: The lawmakers wrote to Biden Wednesday, calling on his administration to support Western governors' Federal Emergency Management Agency drought disaster declaration request issued earlier this month, as they experience water cuts amid rapidly depleting supplies.
Drought conditions across Colorado have reached historic levels.
— Rep. Joe Neguse (@RepJoeNeguse) August 25, 2021
I’m leading my colleagues in urging the federal government to declare a drought disaster declaration and ensure robust federal resources to make the west more resilient to drought. pic.twitter.com/kuo16JEw87
What they're saying: "There is little to no livestock feed available in the West, farmers are considering selling their livestock or land, and many species of wildlife are suffering from wildfires and lack of water," Neguse and Huffman said.
- "This drought could have long-term impacts on the food supply, wildlife, and livelihoods of Americans in the West as these conditions persist."
The big picture: Nearly all of the American West is experiencing some form of drought, and many Western states have been hit by extreme heat waves and historic wildfires this year.
- Human-driven climate change is making conditions worse, and much of this region is facing longer-term "megadrought" that is the second-worst such event in at least 1,200 years, Axios' Andrew Freedman notes.
- The Biden administration did not immediately respond to Axios' request for comment.
Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times
Section2Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.
Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.
The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.
- The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.
What the transcripts say:
- Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
- The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
- Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."
Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.