The Mercury News ran a story last week on how the Endangered Species Act is negatively effecting California farmers and farm jobs in the state. Because the Endangered Species Act protects the 3-inch-long delta smelt, there have been court-ordered reductions in the amount of water pumped to some farmers in the San Joaquin Valley. California congressmen pleaded with their colleagues Tuesday to make an emergency exception to the federal Endangered Species Act. Representative Devin Nunes, R-Visalia, said the unemployment rate in his district is nearly 20 percent and is nearing 50 percent in some communities. The area that is being denied the water for farmland is the most productive areas for farming in the country. To continue to cut off their water supply not only impacts the unemployment rate, it will eventually impact the food supply for this country. At some point we need to begin to balance the wishes of the environmentalists and the needs of the people.
This is not just a California story. With the addition of the polar bear to the endangered species list, any activity that produces carbon could be monitored and impacted by the Endangered Species Act.
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