Enviros pan 60 Minutes
Valley farmers got better treatment from 60 Minutes than environmental groups did -- at least that's what the enviros are saying.
The legendary news magazine aired its take on the state's water woes last night and it didn't take long for the reactions to pour in.
"60 Minutes swallowed whole a tall tale concocted by anti-regulatory interests: that protecting the Delta smelt has economically crippled California agriculture," complained this post on the environmental blog Legal Planet.
Valley environmentalist Lloyd Carter was equally harsh, calling Leslie Stahl's report "remarkably naïve."
Meantime, Delta residents complained that they were left out of the piece. "The governor took [CBS reporter Leslie Stahl] on a flyover of the Delta and didn't say a single word about all the people who live and farm there," said Restore the Delta in a mass email Monday.
So if Northern Californians and enviros are mad, then Valley growers must be happy? Yep.
Water issues are "very complex," said Sarah Woolf, a Westlands Water District spokeswoman whose brother-in-law was one of a couple farmers interviewed by 60 Minutes. "I think they did a nice job."
Judge for yourself:
Comments:
In the Endangered Species Act (ESA), there is new discussion on "the biology-is-law" application of section 9 because it "has resulted in unintended consequences and has had a perverse effect on efforts to conserve species. Because of the habitat modification restrictions now imposed under section 9, landowners are taking pains to manage their lands so that protected, or potentially protectable, species do not occupy the site. This is not surprising, given that many landowners feel that when they are required to manage their lands exclusively for the benefit of wildlife, they are being forced to bear alone public burdens that in all fairness should be borne by the public as a whole."
The key points: they (private landownders) are being forced to bear alone public burdens that in all fairness should be borne by the public as a whole!
http://www.thefreelibrary.com/The+Endangered+Species+Act%3a+impact+of+section+9+on+private...-a015539112
Posted by: GoCalifornia at January 1, 2010 10:08 AM
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