Gov. Jerry Brown signed Assembly Bill 617 into law in the name of climate justice and the apparent inordinate desire to eliminate even more industrial, manufacturing and agricultural production in California.
This bill radically expanded the number of air monitoring stations (our region already has more stations than many states!) in so-called disadvantaged communities allegedly subject to poor air quality. In the name of public safety, regulatory efforts such as this invariably increase the cost of doing business, which leads to the elimination of jobs and an increased cost of living for everyone.
The Community Environmental Council’s original mission? Save the planet by way of recycling programs. From then on, the CEC has had campaigns (replete with a “campaign consultant”) to save fish, eliminate fossil fuels, reduce the use of personal vehicles, eliminate food waste and of course, the cause de jour: Reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The CEC’s latest claim to fame is creating an air monitoring program for the city of Guadalupe.
Guadalupe, a poor community typically beset by wind and fog, is located just miles from the ocean. The CEC claims Guadalupe residents are disproportionately affected by air pollution, wildfire smoke and pesticide exposures. The truth is Guadalupe is spared from all the above because the never-ending prevailing wind blows everything away and east of the city daily.
Speaking of exposure to wildfire smoke and air pollution, this begs the question: Why not put these air monitors along the 101 freeway (traffic and offshore shipping is the biggest source of air pollution) in Santa Barbara? Too close to home, CEC?
It is no secret that most environmental organizations in America are led by lily-white liberals. They presumably seek to save the planet, albeit they do so at the expense of poor people because their efforts arise at the expense of the economy. The CEC is a poster child for this phenomenon. For instance, efforts to eliminate fossil fuels drive up the price of everything because our entire supply chain is dependent upon fossil fuels and their derivatives.
Accordingly, if you think food prices are high now, just wait until fuel prices have their full effect on farmers. Food prices could increase as much as $1,000 per month for households because of the war on fossil fuels.
That is, most consumers don’t realize, and the CEC doesn’t care, that one half of every barrel of oil is used to make something other than fuel such as fertilizer. Farmers use fertilizer (which has gone up 500% in cost) to increase crop yields. Lower yields result in higher consumer prices. Not only that, but farmers use diesel fuel for every facet of their operations, including planting, harvesting, and transport.
In addition to the cost of fuel and fuel derivatives like fertilizer, farmers are facing severe water shortages. Here too, don’t let the CEC climate alarmists fool you. California’s system of dams and reservoirs were built to help us through our never-ending seven-year drought periods. The system worked until radical environmentalists obtained the release of this drought buffer storage water for fish. Ergo, the CEC’s campaign to save fish also came at the expense of farmers!
Specifically, the water that was supposed to be reserved for the farmers, including the water here in our Lake Cachuma reservoir, is being dumped in a failed attempt to benefit fish passage!
Statewide, more than 1 million acres of previously productive farmland has now become a food desert!
As your food and fuel bills continue to rise and water rationing becomes the norm, do realize that you are simply the victim of the CEC’s war on fossil fuels and common sense in this place we call home?
With friends like this, Guadalupe doesn’t need enemies, as it is the CEC that is blowing smoke their way!
Andy Caldwell is the COLAB executive director and host of “The Andy Caldwell Show,” airing 3 to 5 p.m. weekdays on KZSB AM 1290, the News-Press radio station.
