January 10, 2008
By: Sid Riley
This column presents a non-partisan, conservative viewpoint about items of interest in our community and our lives. Focus is on factors that are impacting your pocket book, your personal freedoms, and your rights. I hope you will read the column regularly and it occasionally influences your opinions and actions. Now, on to the subject of the week:
In A Frenzied Rush To Be "Politically Correct" and Get Pro-Environmental Votes On Their Records, Our State Legislators Ended Up Turning A Demon Loose In Our Woods!
Over the past fifteen or twenty years one of the "in" things for national and state politicians has been to brag about how they have voted positively on environmental legislation. Many of the steps they took to ensure that abusive, rampant disregard of our beautiful and bountiful planet was not allowed were needed and beneficial. But alas, as with most of the "band wagon" moves that the politicians rush to support, they allowed the pendulum of change to swing far past the range of reason….and into the zone of lunacy.
The name of the monster they created and then loosened to prey upon the public and unfortunate property owners of our state is the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP). This agency was created in response to Federal mandates based on the logical need that existed for elimination of wanton abuses of our shared environment. The problem is that in the process they created a bureaucracy with unfettered, unregulated powers with little or no oversight. In the face of the unilateral decisions made by this bureaucratic beast, the property owner has little protection or recourse.
To many activists, the environmental movement became a sacred cult, and to say or do anything that might be considered resistance or disagreeable to the movement was treated as blasphemy. As the movement gained in power and size it spawned sub-movements with supporting legislation such as the North Florida Water Management District, the Endangered Species Act, and many, many others. Each of these then spawned a body of rules, codes, and edicts that eager "environo-crats" rushed out to aggressively enforce.
As a result of this zealous environmental overreaction, the hapless property owner suddenly awoke and discovered that he no longer had any vestige of remaining property rights. They were all taken away in the name of environmental protection!
It should be remembered that these are the same breed of all-knowing scholars that decided it would be a good idea to bring kudzu to the United States environment!
Working in a situation where these environmental lunatics have absolute power has led to costly, damaging, and unnecessary requirements that have unfortunately come to be regarded as "just the way it has to be" by a nonresistant local political establishment and general public. Examples of this conditioned "yielding" to their abusive, autocratic authority are not hard to find.
Perhaps the most apparent in our immediate environment is the beloved "mosquito breeding ponds" that I frequently lament over. The environmentalists refer to them as "water retention ponds". Due to rigorously enforced EPA codes, these ponds have become a requirement for virtually every new project in the state of Florida. These costly ponds have to be built, regardless of whether a reasonable need exists or not. And the wishes of the property owner has absolutely no influence on the decision, his rights are completely gone. If you were building a building in the center of a sand pit where no water could ever be retained….you would still have to build one of these ugly, land consuming, expensive, and potentially hazardous ponds.
I strongly believe that in a significant percentage of instances where property owners are forced to build one of these man-made swamps the pond has absolutely no impact on the quality of the water migrating to the ocean as it has for eons. The legislators have allowed this requirement to be thrust upon the property owners with no consideration of the potential health hazards the in-town ponds may have on public health from increased mosquito density, or what impact may be caused by these retaining ponds due to the reduced natural flow of water into streams and rivers. Resulting lower river levels may harm the habitats of the animals and plants that need that flow.
What logic promotes rules that cause beautiful oak trees to be cut down in order to create room on a property for an ugly retention pond? Blind bureaucratic logic is the answer.
This same unreasonable application of environmental muscle led to the stoppage of the construction of a $100 million dollar Telleco Dam that was 85% complete in Tennessee, the loss of thousands of lumber industry jobs in the Northwest due to the environmentalist killing the lumber industry in order to protect the Northern Spotted Owl, and severe restrictions on development on Marco Island and other beach areas in South Florida have been put into effect by the EPA in order to protect the poor little beach mouse.
If I was an owner of a piece of land that I thought I might want to develop some time in the future, I would build a one foot high chicken wire fence around it. The reason would be to keep all gofer terrapins OFF OF THE PROPERTY! If one of these land turtles is found on a piece of land you want to develop, the EPA will stop the project and subject you to a multitude of costly requirements in order to be sure the tortoise has a place to sleep.
Now I love nature and wild animals deeply, but I also realize that various creatures have been becoming endangered and extinct as evolution occurred over millions of years of natural development of our planet. It is a normal part of nature for weather, earth changes, and events to occur that cause certain species to cease to exist. The dinosaurs are perhaps the most vivid example. Man should not interfere in that process. Just try to tell that to some tree hugging environmental nutcase fanatic. He will tell you that it is all man’s fault.
These extremist feel that the rights of all property owners, wasted resources, economic concerns, national well being, and even public safety are secondary to the environmental considerations. That is why they have used their political power to create a world in which the very future of the United States is threatened ….in order to assure no chance exists of harming the environment. That is why no refineries have been built in the US for forty years, no nuclear plants have been built, and we are restricted from getting oil out of the Alaska wilderness or from known vast reserves off shore. All needed safeguards for the environment could be installed as these desperately needed steps are taken…..but no politician dares incur the wrath of the environmental cultist. We fiddle while our Rome burns!
RUDAMENTS: Odds and Ends Worthy of Mention -
♦ Please read the front page article in this paper concerning the proposed construction of a costly new building to house a centralized county government. If we do not immediately exert a maximum effort, the commissioners will follow the wishes of those with vested interest in the matter….and will unnecessarily spend millions of our tax dollars.
♦ We need to all study the pros and cons relating to the property tax initiative vote that we will be faced with in a few more days. I need to do more research before I voice an opinion on this matter.
♦ Another year has passed with no hurricane claims for the poor, suffering insurance companies. Meanwhile they continue to collect those premiums from us that they greedily multiplied two years ago. Why are our regulators allowing them to continue to charge these restrictive rates?
♦ Work continues at a hectic pace in Marianna on Water Street. (Kelson Avenue) I think of where the funding for that job is coming from every month when I pay my city Water and Sewer bill.
♦ The City of Marianna is preparing to tear down the remnants of the Sykes building. If our county and city politicians had been on the ball, that building could have been salvaged for use by the Emergency Operations Department instead of spending the $8.4 million they are spending unnecessarily on a new building. Bad vision and effort, fellows.
♦ It is 2008 now, within a few months the Public Service Commission will surely approve Florida Public Utilities requested 43% rate increase.
♦ Don’t forget…this is an election year. We can begin to move things in the right direction if we force our candidates to listen to us and to make some commitments to us before they are elected.
This is a year for us to quit merely griping about the many things we perceive as being wrong for us and for our nation, and instead to become active. Financially and personally support those candidates that will pledge to stop the wasteful spending and continual growth. Elect only those that promise to protect our rights and our pocketbooks in these trying times. Do this and you will be "Getting It Right"!
In A Frenzied Rush To Be "Politically Correct" and Get Pro-Environmental Votes On Their Records, Our State Legislators Ended Up Turning A Demon Loose In Our Woods!
Over the past fifteen or twenty years one of the "in" things for national and state politicians has been to brag about how they have voted positively on environmental legislation. Many of the steps they took to ensure that abusive, rampant disregard of our beautiful and bountiful planet was not allowed were needed and beneficial. But alas, as with most of the "band wagon" moves that the politicians rush to support, they allowed the pendulum of change to swing far past the range of reason….and into the zone of lunacy.
The name of the monster they created and then loosened to prey upon the public and unfortunate property owners of our state is the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP). This agency was created in response to Federal mandates based on the logical need that existed for elimination of wanton abuses of our shared environment. The problem is that in the process they created a bureaucracy with unfettered, unregulated powers with little or no oversight. In the face of the unilateral decisions made by this bureaucratic beast, the property owner has little protection or recourse.
To many activists, the environmental movement became a sacred cult, and to say or do anything that might be considered resistance or disagreeable to the movement was treated as blasphemy. As the movement gained in power and size it spawned sub-movements with supporting legislation such as the North Florida Water Management District, the Endangered Species Act, and many, many others. Each of these then spawned a body of rules, codes, and edicts that eager "environo-crats" rushed out to aggressively enforce.
As a result of this zealous environmental overreaction, the hapless property owner suddenly awoke and discovered that he no longer had any vestige of remaining property rights. They were all taken away in the name of environmental protection!
It should be remembered that these are the same breed of all-knowing scholars that decided it would be a good idea to bring kudzu to the United States environment!
Working in a situation where these environmental lunatics have absolute power has led to costly, damaging, and unnecessary requirements that have unfortunately come to be regarded as "just the way it has to be" by a nonresistant local political establishment and general public. Examples of this conditioned "yielding" to their abusive, autocratic authority are not hard to find.
Perhaps the most apparent in our immediate environment is the beloved "mosquito breeding ponds" that I frequently lament over. The environmentalists refer to them as "water retention ponds". Due to rigorously enforced EPA codes, these ponds have become a requirement for virtually every new project in the state of Florida. These costly ponds have to be built, regardless of whether a reasonable need exists or not. And the wishes of the property owner has absolutely no influence on the decision, his rights are completely gone. If you were building a building in the center of a sand pit where no water could ever be retained….you would still have to build one of these ugly, land consuming, expensive, and potentially hazardous ponds.
I strongly believe that in a significant percentage of instances where property owners are forced to build one of these man-made swamps the pond has absolutely no impact on the quality of the water migrating to the ocean as it has for eons. The legislators have allowed this requirement to be thrust upon the property owners with no consideration of the potential health hazards the in-town ponds may have on public health from increased mosquito density, or what impact may be caused by these retaining ponds due to the reduced natural flow of water into streams and rivers. Resulting lower river levels may harm the habitats of the animals and plants that need that flow.
What logic promotes rules that cause beautiful oak trees to be cut down in order to create room on a property for an ugly retention pond? Blind bureaucratic logic is the answer.
This same unreasonable application of environmental muscle led to the stoppage of the construction of a $100 million dollar Telleco Dam that was 85% complete in Tennessee, the loss of thousands of lumber industry jobs in the Northwest due to the environmentalist killing the lumber industry in order to protect the Northern Spotted Owl, and severe restrictions on development on Marco Island and other beach areas in South Florida have been put into effect by the EPA in order to protect the poor little beach mouse.
If I was an owner of a piece of land that I thought I might want to develop some time in the future, I would build a one foot high chicken wire fence around it. The reason would be to keep all gofer terrapins OFF OF THE PROPERTY! If one of these land turtles is found on a piece of land you want to develop, the EPA will stop the project and subject you to a multitude of costly requirements in order to be sure the tortoise has a place to sleep.
Now I love nature and wild animals deeply, but I also realize that various creatures have been becoming endangered and extinct as evolution occurred over millions of years of natural development of our planet. It is a normal part of nature for weather, earth changes, and events to occur that cause certain species to cease to exist. The dinosaurs are perhaps the most vivid example. Man should not interfere in that process. Just try to tell that to some tree hugging environmental nutcase fanatic. He will tell you that it is all man’s fault.
These extremist feel that the rights of all property owners, wasted resources, economic concerns, national well being, and even public safety are secondary to the environmental considerations. That is why they have used their political power to create a world in which the very future of the United States is threatened ….in order to assure no chance exists of harming the environment. That is why no refineries have been built in the US for forty years, no nuclear plants have been built, and we are restricted from getting oil out of the Alaska wilderness or from known vast reserves off shore. All needed safeguards for the environment could be installed as these desperately needed steps are taken…..but no politician dares incur the wrath of the environmental cultist. We fiddle while our Rome burns!
RUDAMENTS: Odds and Ends Worthy of Mention -
♦ Please read the front page article in this paper concerning the proposed construction of a costly new building to house a centralized county government. If we do not immediately exert a maximum effort, the commissioners will follow the wishes of those with vested interest in the matter….and will unnecessarily spend millions of our tax dollars.
♦ We need to all study the pros and cons relating to the property tax initiative vote that we will be faced with in a few more days. I need to do more research before I voice an opinion on this matter.
♦ Another year has passed with no hurricane claims for the poor, suffering insurance companies. Meanwhile they continue to collect those premiums from us that they greedily multiplied two years ago. Why are our regulators allowing them to continue to charge these restrictive rates?
♦ Work continues at a hectic pace in Marianna on Water Street. (Kelson Avenue) I think of where the funding for that job is coming from every month when I pay my city Water and Sewer bill.
♦ The City of Marianna is preparing to tear down the remnants of the Sykes building. If our county and city politicians had been on the ball, that building could have been salvaged for use by the Emergency Operations Department instead of spending the $8.4 million they are spending unnecessarily on a new building. Bad vision and effort, fellows.
♦ It is 2008 now, within a few months the Public Service Commission will surely approve Florida Public Utilities requested 43% rate increase.
♦ Don’t forget…this is an election year. We can begin to move things in the right direction if we force our candidates to listen to us and to make some commitments to us before they are elected.
This is a year for us to quit merely griping about the many things we perceive as being wrong for us and for our nation, and instead to become active. Financially and personally support those candidates that will pledge to stop the wasteful spending and continual growth. Elect only those that promise to protect our rights and our pocketbooks in these trying times. Do this and you will be "Getting It Right"!
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