Take the drought seriously
California is in the midst of an historic drought.
Snow pack is down to a mere fraction of what’s necessary to sustain our current rates of consumption.
We’ve been wrestling with other states for a share of the Colorado river for decades. Agriculture needs water. Citizens need water. Water is necessary for life on this planet.
All of these things are immutable. We’re told this on a daily basis. And yet …
People still wash their cars two or three times a week in front of their houses and let the water run.
People still hose down their sidewalks and driveways and let the water run. People water their yards every day of the week and let their water run.
The city of Seal Beach waters the noise wall in CPE and lets the water run.
How long until there is no more water to run?
Even if this drought ended tomorrow it would take months, if not years, to bring us back to “normal.”
And “normal” is a moving target because, every day, more people move to California and, every day, we need to grow more food.
The 10% reduction in Seal Beach’s water consumption, as noted in the Feb. 13 issue of the Sun, is a good start but we as citizens and as a city need to do more. I don’t want my child to have to leave California because we ran out of water.
David Kahn
Seal Beach
Global Warming
On February 18th, President Obama waved his pen, and presumably made some phone calls, to impose increased Fuel Efficiency standards on Medium and Heavy-duty Trucks.
While you may be an adherent of the religion (read: Cult) referred to as Global Warming, er I mean Climate Change, there is a very real Economic cost associated these type of Executive and Bureaucratic impositions.
Setting aside the farce that is anthropogenic global warming (i.e. manmade) momentarily, if President Obama and the Progressive Left in America want to have this conversation, let’s have it.
But, rather than couch it in feel-good rhetoric for, and/or accusations of denialism against, let’s discuss it on reason and Economics.
Like, “if you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor” falsehood, Legislative and/or Executive decisions have consequences.
As we’re now seeing with ObamaCare (that, frankly some of us saw prior to its inception), government-imposed dictates can have perverse incentives.
As the CBO reports the elimination of 2.3 million jobs over the next decade, the President and his minions are touting the virtuousness of joblessness. Heh?
It is now a blessing that one doesn’t have to work, or, while I had health insurance yesterday that I liked (and could afford), I now must spend 50% more, or accept the premise that my neighbor will cover this expense for me, is comical (if it weren’t so tragic). Increased Fuel Efficiency standards for Medium and Heavy-duty trucks may have merit, but one must understand that this policy prescription has a very real cost.
The retrofit cost to these trucking firms is immense, if not in some cases, insurmountable.
Many of our nation’s truckers are independent operators.
People who work 40-70 hours a week, driving material goods to market.
The large firms may be able to absorb this expense.
Many of the smaller operators won’t.
At the end of the day, YOU are paying this cost.
Retrofit, Fuel Costs, Health Insurance coverage, Labor costs, Taxes are pass-through expenses. While businesses and private operators pay this cost up front, ALL these costs are passed-through to the consumer.
For an Ideology whose mantra is about “helping the little guy,” these types of policies are oppressive.
Liberalism on paper is phenomenal.
In practice, not so much.
The poor and middle class are suffering in this nation, under the “pen” of Barack Obama.
The bureaucratic state is stifling growth and innovation. 2016 can’t come soon enough.
Earick Ward
Seal Beach
The opinions expressed in Letters to the Editor are not necessarily those of the Sun. The Sun welcomes Letters to the Editor. Letters should be 300 words maximum. Letters should be emailed, signed by the author and include the author’s address and phone number (the latter two are for verification, not publication). The Sun reserves the right to accept, edit, or reject letters for any reason. Unless otherwise indicated, all letters sent to the Sun are understood to be intended for publication. E-mail letters to: dennis@sunnews.org.
