This isn't a local story, but it has local object lessons -- and links all up and down the left coast.
Environmental zealots in the federal government have successfully put another productive family business out of business, as the Washington Post reports:
Environmental zealots in the federal government have successfully put another productive family business out of business, as the Washington Post reports:
SAN FRANCISCO — An historic Northern California oyster farm along Point Reyes National Seashore will be shut down and the site converted to a wilderness area, U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced on Thursday.
Salazar said he will not renew the Drakes Bay Oyster Co. lease that expires Friday. The move will bring a close to a yearslong environmental battle over the site. (Continue reading...)
The Trojan Heron reported on the plight of this family run oyster bed in Marin County, CA in an article entitled Scientific and Governmental Misconduct:
Back in September, we covered the plight of a small oyster farm in Drakes Estero in Marin County, California. With respect to government bullying and scientific misconduct, that story sounds eerily like our own. To top it all off, the local band of environmental zealots down there (Environmental Action Committee of West Marin) is headed by none other than Amy Trainer, the former in-house attorney for the Friends. Small world.
The accusatory environmental narrative leveled at the oyster farm is essentially identical to the one put forward by the Friends against homeowners here. Funny how that is, don't you think?
Back in September, everyone was waiting for Interior Secretary Salazar to make his decision on whether to shut down the oyster farm or let it continue operating. His decision came down today: he is ordering the shut-down and removal of the oyster farm, which has been in the Estero for about 90 years. (Continue reading...)
But wait, there's more!
Meanwhile, last week in a left-hand/right-hand maneuver, lame duck Washington State Governor Christine Gregoire invoked an executive order commanding that the state use its powers to reduce ocean acidification to protect shellfish (and shellfish farming operations). Naturally, it all ties back to everyone's favorite bogeyman, anthropogenic carbon dioxide. Ignoring all benefits of carbon dioxide, which is necessary for life, the order exaggerates still hypothetical (and permanently non-falsifiable) risks. Once again our agencies are being pressed by politicians to increase regulations that will curb freedom without objective scientific justification.
All the talk of "blue ribbon" panels is nothing more than rubber stamps by the high priests of the environmental religion. And therefrom, real people lose their jobs, and national prosperity diminishes measurably at the hands of these first amendment violators. These infringements on our freedom are being implemented at all levels of government.
Rampant environmental hysteria is being stirred up by collectivists, and otherwise sensible people fall for it, with devastating results. Too few people remember what it was like, and what it means to live in a free country. We need to restore those principles back into our education and our media. The environment will be better for it too.
WE have raised alarm repeatedly that Salazar and the BLM are headed up the coast, our way, swinging a wrecking ball through the San Juans. Still think their programs present no risk?
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