*runs in dry, dusty circles*
can’t holler - coughin’ dust
California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger on Friday declared a state emergency due to drought and said he would consider mandatory water rationing in the face of nearly $3 billion in economic losses from below-normal rainfall this year.
But don’t worry—Angelinos will still be washing their driveways and sidewalks and the fountains out front of the gas stations will still flow.
As many as 95,000 agricultural jobs will be lost, communities will be devastated and some growers in the most economically productive farm state simply are not able to plant, state officials said, calling the current drought the most expensive ever.
Considering Ahnold terminated up to 40% of their water rights last year…
Legislators have also revived a $10 billion bond package to build new dams, fund conservation programs and build plants to recycle waste water and recharge aquifers.
That would be good nooz… if they weren’t talking about forcing growers to use tertiary-treated water in run-off and high groundwater areas. [tertiary-treated water from the cities is still full of ...well, crap.]
California produces more than half the nation’s fruits, vegetables and nuts, and farmers in recent weeks have been staggered by reports that the main federal source of irrigation water will go dry this year and the top state water project will not fulfill more than 15 percent of requested water.
The Central Valley, a fertile but arid region stretching some 500 miles from Bakersfield to Redding, is the agricultural heartland of California, which ranks as the nation’s No. 1 farm state in terms of the value of crops produced—more than $36 billion a year.
Oh - but wait. Here comes the EPA to save the day.
...federal regulators...are refusing to exempt growers from new environmental regulations. Under rules imposed in 2006, rural areas would be kept to the same standards as urban areas for what the Environmental Protection Agency calls “coarse particulate matter” in the air.
No - they’re not talking about Unicorn Farts or Bollshiite. They’re talking about DUST.
evidence of harm caused by dust in rural areas hasn’t been determined.
But the U.S. District Court of Appeals in Washington ruled Tuesday that the EPA had already provided the evidence necessary to determine farm dust “likely is not safe.”
Michael Formica, a lawyer for the pork council, said this means farmers now face the daunting task of proving a negative — that the dust is not harmful.
“Likely not safe.” That’s all they needed to say and *boom* /food production.
EPA spokeswoman Cathy Milbourn said the changes are not just a matter of regulating dust. They serve the public’s well-being and, regardless of whether someone lives in a rural or urban area, the threshold for unsafe levels of dust in the air must remain consistent nationally.
Why they must remain consistent nationally, deponent sayeth not.
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