Written by Nicholas Vetrisek
In a move that should surprise absolutely no one, Gavin Newsom has shown his complete ineptitude and inability to prioritize by putting a few thousand fish over the lives of Californians.
After the White House recently ended the decades-long dispute between environmentalists and farmers over water in the San Joaquin Delta, choosing to side with the farmers, Governor Newsom has decided to take legal action to prevent the use of regional water. Not only that, but he also intends to follow the guidelines of a newly released 610-page environmental report that calls for $1.5 billion for habitat restoration. Newsom is not only keeping the water from the people who desperately need it, but also intends to waste more taxpayer money on meaningless projects.
The conflict between the environmentalists and the farmers stems from the fact that while the water from the Delta could greatly assist farmers and increase the entire state’s water supply by over 15 percent, but it’s also the home of the Delta Smelt, which a population of less than 2,000 and is completely useless for humans. Despite the unbelievable good that this water could do, being able to benefit the entire state, environmentalists are fighting for a few thousand fish.
In this feeble attempt to court the environmentalists, Newsom has still managed to anger them due to the fact that the report advocates for slightly more water to be given to farmers. Not only has he alienated the farmers that need the water, but he has also upset the perpetually unsatisfied environmentalist crowd. To show how ridiculous they are being, a lawyer for the National Resources Defense Council called Newsom’s proposal “Trump lite.”
This type of idiotic policymaking, the idea of freezing everything and preventing the construction of important infrastructure to “protect” inconsequential species is exactly what leads to mindsets like “Shoot, Shovel, Shut Up.”
For those of you who don’t know, SSS is a policy that farmers and landowners have where if they see an endangered species on their property, they kill it and bury it while acting like nothing ever happened. This keeps the government from seizing their land and as a result, is a win for the farmers. Not so much for the government because it makes endangered species… more endangered.
