Jonathan Swift
It begins innocently enough: “The California Air Resources Board aka ‘CARB’(www.arb.ca.gov) is an agency created in 1967 and is under the California Environmental Protection Agency which reports directly to the Governor’s Office in the Executive Branch of California State Government. It is located in a high-rise building at 1001 I Street, Sacramento, CA.”
Then it contines to describe CARB’s mission, its budget, its employment and so on.
But the end, however, the writeup declares: “CARB is an agency that was not elected or voted in but yet it controls California’s citizens, life, jobs, productivity and economy. Time to Unplug CARB!!!” And it provides hyperlinks to do just that.
Why? “It appears that the Global Warming/Climate Change ‘news’ has been nothing but ‘hype’ and ‘alarmism,’” according to the article.
This is not satire, though, it is real.
I’ve written before about CABPRO’s policies:
*”Enough is enough: Open the gold mine” is here.
*”Keeping an eye on California’s evolving demographics” is here.
In his latest scribe, George Rebane, blogger and The Union columnist (still and still with no “counterbalance”), claims more people are thinking about splitting America into two soverign nations.
“With election of Obama – the self-declared Great Unifier – the prospect of the country dividing, with conservatives going their way and the progressives theirs, is beginning to gain traction,” he writes.
I always heard that the extreme liberals were the problem with our community. But I have yet to see anything that counters what CABPRO does or tries to do.
And I continue to wonder how it is constructive in a community where uniting, not dividing, is an important goal. I’m not alone either.
Filed under: Uncategorized
“But I have yet to see anything that counters what CABPRO does or tries to do.”
Hit F5 and look again, my friend. You ARE the counterpoint.
Get rid of CARB, Rescind AB32, what’s next for these extremists? The two largest financial supporters of the Rescind AB32 campaign are two Texas oil companies. One of the local businessmen most often mentioned is Lowell Robinson of Robinson Timber. Nowhere have I seen mention of Lowell Robinson that owns a few gas stations in Nevada County. Is that just convenient and how is that segment of his business doing? Does he purchase from these two Texas companies?
This comment is in a slightly different direction than this thread but the last sentence made me think. “And I continue to wonder how it is constructive in a community where uniting, not dividing, is an important goal”. Who is Diane West, who in my opinion is masquerading as a columnist in the ‘Tea Party Gazette’? One might come to the conclusion that she is a member of the tea party group and unfortunately the fringe,racist faction that this group has allowed to be a part of their organization. A very nice letter to the editor was sent to the local rag by Miles Shelton and ironically appears below her latest hit piece on the residents of Afghanistan.
Thanks Aaron. Well, at least you didn’t call me Gloria Zane. Smiley face aside, as I’ve said many times before, my politics are “middle of the road.” In San Francisco, I would have been labeled a “conservative.” “Liberals” comment here because they don’t feel they have a forum in the local media, which just this week ran an editorial supporting CABPRO’s stand on AB 32 and a McClintock campaigning article on the same day, with no counterbalance. Jon’s comments about the “Tea Party Gazette” are becoming all too common in our community. It’s all about balance, that’s all. People expect and deserve that in a community as diverse as ours.
re JeffP’s ““Liberals” comment here because they don’t feel they have a forum in the local media”
For me the reason isn’t so much that, as that
a) the commenting platform at TU is slow, requires javascript and is extremely user-hostile; e.g. it’s designed to require many clicks to do what WordPress allows with one. And – since it requires JS – probably Google doesn’t see the comments. (I like to be able to use Google to find one again.)
b) the MSM culture (and The Union’s in particular) has shown very little respect for the value of permanence; new commenting platform, blow away the old comments (and certainly destroy any chance of retaining permalinks to them)
c) the generally low quality of comments there, and lack of a meaningful filter/rating mechanism to ameliorate the experience of wading through them.
These folks seem to be giving us an urgent late breaking news flash that they have recently discovered all by themselves: You can have more dollar bills in your pocket, and so can your friends and their friends, if you ignore all standards and regulations and safeguards that are related to … well, pretty much anything and everything. Except Mexicans. Keep the ones about Mexicans. And gay folks too.
It’s funny on so many levels. Maybe the funniest is that they think it’s a news flash, they like to take credit for the idea as if nobody had it before or as if it never crossed the minds of ‘them treehuggers’.
Maybe it all just boils down to a question of timeframe: if your only concern is lining your own pocket until you die, then the right side looks pretty nice. But if you’re also concerned about making sure there’s something to ‘line the pockets’ three (or fewer) generations out, and if you take the time to look at the possibilities for what the world might look like between now and then, largely as a function of our greed (‘our’ as in ‘all of us’, regardless of where we are on the spectrum as individuals) then that ‘drill baby drill’ and ‘open that mine now’ and ‘AB32 is evil’ mindset looks kind of short-sighted and suicidal.
You would think that with one of the worst air pollution problems in the country, CABPRO would want us to have cleaner air, not dirtier. How are we going to fill all those houses we are building, or keep filled the ones we are remodeling. Add our bad air, to many of us still being on the wrong side of the digital divide and you have a less and less desirable place to live, no less to visit. Maybe some would just like us to be like London with the Big Smoke of 1952. Climate change aside, don’t these folks like breathing without getting sick?
Just found this stuff! Hmmm?
As a Native and I mean a real native! My family over the years has seen California grow into the ” Golden State” a place dreamed of, and sought out by folks around the world as ” The Place”,..”El Dorado the mythical land of Gold! But what has 60 years of New Wave policies brought us now? ….A financial mess!, A Society in a social upheaval caused by Spoiled Brats from the 60′s, From Berkeley! An entitlement “Me first” society! Boy! This is great huh?
The government is now attacking it own citizens! What do you do when they come for you?
Boy! this ” CHANGE” is just fantastic!!
CABPRO was founded as a reaction to ” those same folks who had a “Better Idea” on how to take away our property rights, on how to properly manage ” Our Land”!
……….The Social Utopia!!
Oh yeah,.. Why they are at it,.. why not take our personal rights at the same time because,…… they all Know better!
CABPRO has been holding the line against these infringements on our rights and a Big Thanks to them!
those folks are alright,..
And Jeff, As a native San Franciscan,,(I saw this First Hand). Boy There is a testimony to great”Liberal policies”! Bagdad By the Bay, The City on Seven Hills,.. now it isn’t even safe to ride public transportation!
Whats the next Change,… Oh Yeah Licenses for homes!
Chuck,
Thanks again for driving a horse carriage around town, but the world demands some regulations now that we’re out of the horse and buggy days. Did you not get into Berkeley? It’s a fine university, but you have to study a lot. I’m a native California, too, and weary of extremists who want to monopolize the debate like, well, spoiled brats. We enjoy your carriage rides and the B&B’s breakfasts, though, so I’m glad we can just agree to disagree on whether CABPRO’s approach is constructive.
An excellent resource, for those afraid that fighting climate change will doom our economy, is Krugman’s Building a green economy (which will appear in Sunday’s NYTimes magazine, I believe).
Suggestion: if you read it before offering your opinion, it may save you from backtracking and embarrassment.
(that’s a link, btw; JeffP, any chance you could fix the comments stylesheet so links appear differently from normal text?)
By the way, it’s probably not worth trying to comment on CABPRO Report blog, since they’re, ah, cavalier about comments. (even civil and respectful ones)
Which is to be expected from a property rights group, I guess; so, consider the comments a No Trespassing zone.
“Rebane … claims more people are thinking about splitting America into two soverign nations.”
Really? Hey George, I don’t know where you hang out with these “more people” (do share some time), but this is a great idea. You are on it! I say we split the country latitudinally — north and south. I don’t think that’s been tried before. Then the people who don’t like our black president — how about they live on the south side? Then the southerners can elect their own president. A white man. A white, Protestant man who owns lots of acreage and needs free labor to tend it. I don’t think that’s been tried before.
Get together with these “more people,” George, and get us a draft by Monday.
Jeff
Thanks for plug on the horse carriage. Yes it is fun!
Regulation? Yes! Some but not total, which is where we have been heading for sometime.
Cabpro has been a very small voice in the Local forest attempting to hold the line on more regulations and is far from monopolizing the debate. Thier little magazine provides discussion and shows what is supposed to be in defense of those who want to take away all somebody has earned.
Yes! It is constructive, but again, it is a very small voice against the giant wave which seeks to destroy our rights.
Yes! Berkeley is a good school especially the Naval ROTC Unit outstanding students definately a model for the rest!
So if ya like our food at the B&B when are you going to buy some of our Ranch raised Chicken? take a look at
http://www.wanderinstarranch.com
Best!
Chuck