Jerry Brown backs away from bullet train fight

Remember the plan hatched a few weeks back to exempt California’s high-speed rail project from state environmental laws? Not happening. Lance Williams at California Watch writes that Gov. Jerry Brown is backing away from that one after a deluge of criticism from green groups that are part of his core constituency. The governor apparently is in no mood to talk about it, either, referring questions to the state high speed rail authority for its perfunctory no comment.