In Brad Miller NC-13 -- Rebuilding America in the Wake of Environmentalism I explored the liberal's version creative destruction and how Congressman Brad Miller uses environmentalism's penchant for economic destruction to increase government's reach into, and control of the American economy one business at a time as he attempts to rebuild America in environmentalism's wake.
Today I read an article penned by Monica Showalter in Investor's Business Daily, California's Man-Made Drought and discovered that environmentalism has become something far worse than I had imagined. It had metastasized into a family devastating, economy destroying tool of political leverage and blackmail.
On a springtime drive through the Central Valley, it's hard not to notice how federal and state governments are hell-bent on destroying the state's top export — almonds — and everything else in the nation's most productive farmland.Of course the culprit is Environmentalism.
It started with a 2008 federal court order that stopped water flowing from northern tributaries on a supposed need to protect a small fish — the delta smelt — that was getting ground up in the turbines of pump stations that divert the water south.I had assumed this was leading toward some government sponsored bill that would reinvigorate the area, that the water would get to the people who need it and an Owens Lake dust bowl would be averted. Of course, this salvation would come with all the government intrusions bestowed upon the bailed out companies of the past couple of years. It was not to be the case. The reality it turned out was far more pernicious.
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After that, the water cutoff was blamed on "drought," though northern reservoirs are currently full. Now the cry is "save the salmon," a reference to water needs of the state's northern fisheries.
Whatever the excuse, 75% of the fresh water that has historically irrigated California is now being washed to the open sea. For farmers in the southwest part of the valley, last year's cutoff amounted to 90%.
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It also devastated the area's economy. Unemployment in some valley towns has shot up to 45%. Mortgage defaults are on the rise, and food lines are lengthening.
Much like organized criminals in big-city fish markets who see to it that product spoils when kickbacks aren't forthcoming, Washington's pols are now using their ability to turn water on and off as a coercion tool.People's lives are being destroyed in the name of environmentalism then extorted of their votes and support in exchange for the possibility of getting their lives back.
Take the three congressmen who represent the valley and how they were pressured to vote for President Obama's health care bill. It didn't go without notice by farmers like Jasper that the 5% water allocations announced in February for all three congressional districts were lifted to 25% for the two whose Democratic representatives, Jim Costa of Fresno and Dennis Cardoza of Modesto, switched their votes on health reform from "undecided" to "aye."
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Devin Nunes, a Republican from Tulare, wouldn't sell his vote, and parts of his district had to make do with the 5% allotment.
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To win political points from time to time, federal officials announce short-term increases in allocations — most recently, to 30%. But these increments are so iffy and irregular that farmers can't plan their crops or arrange for bank loans.
Your education is every bit the tool as a tractor, fields and water. Imagine the education you received and rely on for feeding your children, housing your family, and building your life in general being forcibly removed from you. Then those responsible for removing the tools of your trade come to you and offer you the use of your education in return for your support.
This is what has become of environmentalism.
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