Badlands Journal

1-25-12

Lloydgcarter.com

Who needs a cost-benefit analysis? Not Southern California
By Lloyd G. Carter
http://www.lloydgcarter.com/content/120125542_who-needs-a-cost-benefit-analysis-not-southern-california

When Assembly Member Alyson Huber of El Dorado Hills failed to get an economic feasibility analysis bill on the controversial proposed peripheral canal out of committee recently, she was probably unaware that a similar challenge had been made to the finances of the State Water Project in 1960 by the late George “Elfie” Ballis, a legendary figure in Central California water and farmworker politics.

Huber’s bill (AB 550) would have required express approval of the Legislature for any “conveyance facility, an honest cost-benefit analysis of a peripheral canal or tunnel around the Delta” (which proponents claim would help the Delta) and prohibit any diminishing or negative impact on Delta water supplies, water rights, or water users. It failed to clear the Assembly Committee on Water, Parks and Wildlife on a 7-5 vote. But the vote was not along party lines. It was based on geography. North State legislators, including committee chairman Jared Huffman voted for it. The Southern California Committee members voted against it.

"I know what you're thinking about," said Tweedledum; "but it isn't so, nohow."

"Contrariwise," continued Tweedledee, "if it was so, it might be; and if it were so, it would be; but as it isn't, it ain't.

That's logic." -- Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking-Glass

 We found it necessary to consult this primary text in logic to attempt to "parse" (even to robustly and proactively parse") the following statement from the desk of our very own White Queen, Dianne Feinstein, senior US Senator for California:

Because California can't store enough water during wet years to compensate for dry years, transferring water is a criticaltool to help provide farmers, businesses and residential areas with a dependable water supply.--US Sen. Dianne Feinstein, Sacramento Bee, Jan. 17, 2012.

Within the primary unexamimed assumption, "Because California can't store enough water during wet years to compensate for dry years," there is another fundamental assumption, "California" itself.

1-11-12

Merced Sun-Star

Dry January raises concern over drought in northern California…Matt Weiser

http://www.mercedsunstar.com/2012/01/11/v-print/2186343/dry-january-raises-concern-over.html

The dreaded D-word – "drought" – is back on the tongues of many Californians now that a dry December has crawled into a dry January.

A dry December is not that unusual. But a dry January – well along into winter and usually the state's wettest month – is another matter.

"What is unusual is that it just hangs on and on and on," said Maury Roos, chief hydrologist at the California Department of Water Resources, noting it will be hard to recover from the missed January storms.

"It's not impossible, but it's quite unlikely we'll make it back to normal before the end of the season," Roos said.

Sacramento has had no rain since Dec. 15, and only a trace on that day: 0.07 inches.

Lake Tahoe – so dependent on snowfall for its winter economy – has fared just as badly. South Lake Tahoe has seen no measurable precipitation since Nov. 20, according to National Weather Service data.

At last, the efficiencies of the free market system are being appliedpublically, openly and thoroughly to water, leaving only one question of any importance: what will win, capitalism or water?

Badlands Journal editorial board

1-10-12
Water Risk in Supply Chains Draws Investor Scrutiny
By Peter S. Green -

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-01-10/water-risk-in-supply-chains-draws-investor-scrutiny.html

Jonas Kron is worried about water. The investment adviser at Trillium Asset Management, a $900 million fund manager that focuses on environmentally sustainable investment, fears the world’s dwindling supply of fresh water is hurting the companies he has invested in. For most of the year, Kron has led a shareholder challenge to J. M. Smucker, the strawberry jam maker that also owns Folgers coffee. Kron says the company hasn't demonstrated it's prepared for the market changes that are sure to come as climate change reduces the size of the world’s coffee growing area. The conversation has been difficult in part because corporate leaders still seem unaware they need to factor water risk into their financial projections, says Kron. "We're not talking about charity here," says Kron. "These are investors seeking to have the company address the risks in its supply chain."

12-10-11

Fresno Bee

Bill McEwen: Resnick wants to enhance Valley…

Bill McEwen

http://www.fresnobee.com/2011/12/10/v-print/2645195/resnick-wants-to-enhance-valley.html

Lynda Resnick is a marketing whiz and one of America's richest women. She has mastered the art of moving bottled water, pomegranate juice, oranges and other products off of supermarket shelves.

Now she's tackling a bigger challenge: making a dent in the concentrated poverty that has saddled the San Joaquin Valley with a reputation as the Appalachia of the West.

Resnick might be this generation's highest-profile Valley advocate. She certainly has the connections to make politicians and foundations pay attention to our overlooked region and its daunting problems.

She and husband Stewart own Roll Global and are estimated to be worth $1.8 billion. A good chunk of their fortune has come from the Valley's fertile fields and the success of Paramount Farms.

"What I hope to give is a voice to the whole Valley," Resnick says. "Too many people have no idea about the Central Valley and the wonderful people here that deserve a chance."

The Resnicks, who live in Beverly Hills, long have been major donors to causes in Southern California.

Gee whiz: we're soooo surprised.

12-31-11

Merced Sun-Star

Livingston annexation appears on fast track

Gallo family wants 334 acres of land to be rezoned for industrial, commercial uses…JOSHUA EMERSON SMITH

http://www.mercedsunstar.com/2011/12/31/v-print/2173795/livingston-annexation-appears.html

LIVINGSTON -- City officials have taken steps toward approving a Gallo family request to annex several hundred acres of land into the city.

Proponents argue it would set the stage for luring industry and jobs to the town. However, local residents have already voiced concerns about the possible negative impacts of development in the area.

On Thursday the Livingston Planning Commission voted unanimously to send an annexation plan to the City Council, which would make 334 acres of land owned by the Gallo family part of the city.

If the council votes to incorporate the property into the city limit, future industrial, commercial and housing developments approved at the site would then have access to public services, including water, sewer, fire and police -- important incentives for prospective investors.

"It's been explosive growth for them," he said in a telephone interview. "The economics on it are staggering." -- Bloomberg, 12-12-11

12-12-11

Bloomberg News

Dark Side of Fracking Makes Heckmann a Takeover Target: Real M&A…David Wethe and Tara Lachapelle, ©2011 Bloomberg News. Editors: Michael Tsang, Daniel Hauck.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2011/12/12/bloomberg_articlesLW3TAV6K50Y6.DTL&type=printable

Dec. 13 (Bloomberg) -- The need to reduce the environmental risk from shale-oil drilling is boosting the allure of Heckmann Corp. and Poseidon Concepts Corp. as takeover targets.

Local and federal regulators are raising questions about pollution after demand for so-called hydraulic fracturing, which uses millions of gallons of water mixed with sand and chemicals to unlock oil and gas in shale rock, more than tripled in the past five years. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said in a report last week it found evidence of chemicals used in the process in a drinking-water aquifer in Wyoming.

Given that credibility was already in short supply as state and federal officials try to resolve water conflicts in the Delta, Wanger hasn't done Californians any favors.

 

12-1-11

Scarmento Bee
Editorial: By working for Westlands, Wanger puts legacy in doubt

http://www.sacbee.com/2011/12/01/4091362/by-working-for-westlands-wanger.html

Of all the federal judges who have recently presided in California, none has had more impact on California water issues than just-retired U.S. District Court Judge Oliver W. Wanger of Fresno.

Appointed by President George H.W. Bush in 1991, Wanger was at the center of highly contentious rulings on federal water contracts, endangered species protections and disputes over toxic drainage.

On numerous occasions, the Westlands Water District – the nation's largest agricultural district by value of crops – was a party in those cases, and several times Wanger issued rulings favorable to this powerful water agency.

IF you don't read another article on the environment over the holidays, we suggest you might read this terrific piece on Alternet by Tara Lohan about the five most toxic energy companies.

The basic scenario in the "free" market on energy supplies is that huge energy corporations, mining and pumping increasingly scarce raw energy materials, which command escalating market prices producing astronomical profits, have now bought a culture in which it is expected that regulatory agencies, legislators and judges in the highest courts are bought and sold. We have seen how these companies have created something so much larger than the individual acts of corruption that compose it, that we must call it the culture itself -- the plutocracy, a culture in which society, economics and government are all arranged for the primary benefit of the rich, with less and less apology as the plutocracy matures and putrifies, giving off a stench that is the reason for the occupation movement from Wall Street outward across the country. The economy created by the rich stinks so much it cannot even employ the people of the host nations it seeks to suck dry of all wealth.

We urge everyone to read this excellent survey of these energy companies at work on the ground killing their employees and destroying the environment and in the halls of Congress killing laws to protect workers and the environment. The posting here is just the first page.

Badlands Journal editorial board

...these numbers need to be tattooed on our minds. Between 1947 and 1979, productivity in the US rose by 119%, while the income of the bottom fifth of the population rose by 122%. But from 1979 to 2009, productivity rose by 80%, while the income of the bottom fifth fell by 4%. In roughly the same period, the income of the top 1% rose by 270%. -- George Monbiot, Nov. 8, 2011

11-8-11
Common Dreams
The 1% Are the Very Best Destroyers of Wealth the World Has Ever Seen
Our common treasury in the last 30 years has been captured by industrial psychopaths. That's why we're nearly bankrupt
by George Monbiot
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2011/11/08-7

If wealth was the inevitable result of hard work and enterprise, every woman in Africa would be a millionaire. The claims that the ultra-rich 1% make for themselves – that they are possessed of unique intelligence or creativity or drive – are examples of the self-attribution fallacy. This means crediting yourself with outcomes for which you weren't responsible. Many of those who are rich today got there because they were able to capture certain jobs. This capture owes less to talent and intelligence than to a combination of the ruthless exploitation of others and accidents of birth, as such jobs are taken disproportionately by people born in certain places and into certain classes.