Clean Everything

In recent years there has been much conversation and legislation about cleaning up mankind’s messes. I write periodically about some of these efforts, which — although laudable in intent — are often either misguided in their application or downright bad for the environment, which is the supposed beneficiary of whatever it is we are directed to do.

Many of these projects have been heavily promoted by environmental organizations that have more to gain by dues for those who wish someone else to take the responsibility.

The end results sometimes are helpful, but often lead to less desirable consequences predicted by people more familiar with the topic.

 

More often than not, the responsibility for implementation is handed to groups that have radical agendas and that really just want to gain control of privately owned land without the necessity of paying for it and without interrupting the flow of tax dollars from the pockets of the landowners.

I will digress here briefly to point out something that many of us, including myself, often forget in the business of our daily lives. This is one of the most important distinctions between our country and the rest of the world: the concept and reality of private property. There is nowhere else on the face of this earth where such an all encompassing framework from the Constitution on down to zoning regulations has been so free of public will.

In recent years, however, this has been changing to a larger intrusion on one’s right to privacy and the use of one’s property. Now individuals who don’t live anywhere near you can come to a hearing, protest your project for no more significant reason than they are philosophically opposed to it, have no financial interest in it and have lawmakers either radically change your project or deny it altogether.

 

The fact that people who will never be impacted by the project have a right to have a say in what happens goes way beyond what I think was intended by freedom of speech. 

If this protesting individual’s rights are going to be impacted by the project, they have a perfect right and obligation to speak up so a possible compromise can be reached between all parties. But for some individual or group to protest a given project because they don’t like big houses or the color purple is simply going too far.

I need to remind myself of this issue periodically because, on a much larger scale, legislation constantly is being proposed that will have dire results if passed. I have mentioned HR 2421 and Senate Bill 1870 before, referring to them as the Clean Water Restoration Act that would extend jurisdiction of water issues out of state hands and into federal hands. This would give the federal government authority over every ditch, pipe, street, gutter and groundwater basin.

 

Amazingly enough, some people have taken notice of the potential negative impacts this bill would produce, impacts that were never intended. Some of the original supporters are now beginning to doubt the wisdom of removing local authority over water and giving it to the federal government.

Do we really want Uncle Sam, or whoever wins in November, to determine where our local water supplies are sent? Do we really want somebody in Washington, D.C. to tell us what a wetland is or isn’t and whether there is one on your property as seen from a satellite? We all know how accurate those views are.

Federal regulations are already so burdensome that, basically, if you have any type of water on your property, even if you made the stock pond yourself, it is almost impossible to satisfy the regulators without being somehow penalized for it.

Hence, the bill has become very controversial and is making some legislators very uncomfortable about supporting it.

 

There has been considerable lobbying by those in agriculture, as this bill would be disastrous for them because the reach of EPA regulations would extend much farther than they do now.

The mining industry also has worked hard to defeat this draconian bill. Polling done by the Western Business Roundtable shows that 63 percent of people responding opposing this act.

A poll cited by the extreme radical environmental group Earthjustice, which is, these days, pretending to be just any garden variety environmental group, claims that this bill is supported by those in the farm states.

Personally, I don’t believe that, but so many groups and institutions have been infiltrated by these radicals that one has to question anything that has their name attached to it.

I received an e-mail this past week from a person who firmly believes that the Santa Ynez River is a flowing cesspool or something to that effect.

Well, that person might be referring to the periodic dumping of waste from the County Park, although I doubt it because most people are not aware of it, but it shows me that there are people in our own community who have an extremely warped and misinformed view of reality.  Groups like Earthjustice and others snare people into thinking that everything is so polluted that we are just moments from a point of no return where our very lives are in danger!

 

Nonsense! Yes, we have skies which are not as clear as they used to be before all of you moved here and before those who moved north decided to take the shortcut through the valley that KEYT showed you on the news every night. More recently, the casino has brought in people from even farther away, as well as those nearby, who used to stay in their homes at night.

Now we have traffic on all roads 24 hours a day. We also have water sometimes running down the river when naturally it would not be. No, this is not the annual water release for the farmers in Lompoc; it is the water releases for the eight original fish that may or may not have been steelhead.

This source is also impacted by those careless people who drive their vehicles up and down dry riverbeds, throw garbage out of their car windows, and use the side of the road and people’s driveways as their bathrooms.

When it rains, where do you imagine that waste goes?

So, wouldn’t you think it would be more sensible if some local experts who know for a fact that our creeks and rivers don’t flow all year round would be a better judge of how to keep our water systems healthy than some politician on the other side of the country, where streams and rivers DO run all year round?

If you agree or think there is room for some practical discussion, I would recommend that you contact your congressman and senator to oppose HR 2421 and Senate Bill 1870 at your earliest convenience, as they are discussing this as you read about it, and I can assure you, the results of these two bills will not be good for any of us.

 

 

Elections

We have just over one month before we will be asked to choose a representative for the 3rd District. It is such a diverse district that there are many different interests to appeal to.

When I look at the wonderful differences reflected by the various communities, I think that we are lucky to have such a wide variety of experience upon which to draw. We have different ethnic groups, different vocational interests, different educational ranges, and different lifestyles.

Wow! I am truly amazed how we all manage to live and work together in relative harmony.

I am grateful to have surrounding me such a vast expanse of differences. At the same time, we all have many similarities.

We all have some kind of family that we care about, we all have some kind of daily occupation, we all have similar needs to eat, sleep, fulfill ambitions and look to our futures. We also have common problems, such as how to deal with money issues, how to take care of our children or younger relatives, and how to make sure that our time on this planet is not wasted.

Some of us are more successful than others at reaching our goals.

Some of us have trouble setting goals. Some of us wander through life wondering what we want to be when we grow up.

I’m still considering that one!

 

It is time for all of us to begin to look at and listen to what the candidates who want to represent us are saying and doing. Remember, sometimes actions speak louder than words.

I like the phrase used by Ronald Reagan (and, no, I’m not a Republican) that said “Trust, but verify,” because it seemed a wise thing to do. Political campaigns often bring out the worst, because it has become the norm to put out, particularly in the last weeks, malicious innuendo about a candidate knowing full-well that there won’t be enough time to check out whether it is true.

I believe this season will be one of the worst on record, mostly because of what I know of the character of some of the candidates. It is particularly unfortunate, because it destroys the focus on the issues each individual is trying to put forth as their platform and changes it to defending themselves, which always sounds bad.

I am pleased to see that at least one of the candidates has stated publicly that a clean campaign will be waged. Time will tell how the others intend to structure theirs.

It is our job to watch, listen carefully, and see whose ads are more about mud than substance.