Obama pledges millions to help drought-stricken Calif.
By Norimitsu Onishi and Coral Davenport, New York Times
FRESNO — President Obama arrived in the heart of California’s parched farmland on Friday afternoon to offer tens of millions of dollars in federal assistance to the state, where the lack of rain and snow this winter has led to the severest drought in its modern history.
Meeting with farmers and ranchers around Fresno — where electronic signs along highways flash entreatingly to drivers, “Serious drought. Help save water” — Obama pledged $183 million from existing federal funds for drought relief programs in California. Though the announcement won cautious support in this region, Obama also pressed ahead with the more difficult task of enlisting rural America in his campaign on climate change by linking it to the drought.
Obama also spoke of climate change, drawing links to the drought as well as hurricanes in the Atlantic Ocean. Mr. Obama announced that he would ask Congress for $1 billion in new funding for a “climate resiliency” program to help communities invest in research, development and new infrastructure to prepare for climate disasters.
Yeah. Millions of our own money. Thanks a lot. Pretty generous with other people’s money, isn’t he?
Yeah, because our water supply isn’t worth investing in.
What is Obama’s carbon footprint for his travels?
When ‘O’ shows up you know it is all political and handing out political favors to his minions. Nunes has it all dialed in. Years of poor engineering and political diversion of water is a key factor in what Cali is suffering through. We have been in many rainless/drought cycles, more and more politicians are “never letting a good crises go to waste” to advance Alinsky agendas.
Welfare programs are not helping any one and tying the sham of “Global Warming” to those dollars is such a disgusting move on “O’s” part. Par for his end game.
A little reality check the eco politicians want to ignore: http://news.investors.com/ibd-editorials/021414-690216-failure-to-use-water-infrastructure-is-destroying-farms.htm#disqus_thread
Why can’t we build a couple of reservoirs in this state? They will provide clean power, recreation and habitat for wild life. Invest in the people of this state not the politics of a few.
Been done, Rhino. Repeatedly. Most of our reservoirs were originally for water storage. Then back in the 80’s & 90’s, the legislators got greedy and started approving building permits in flood plains. More property tax revenue there than in farmland. So, they could no longer risk the reservoirs overflowing, and they changed the use from storage to flood control. They no longer allow the dams to fill for water use in dry years.
IF the environmentalists would allow the construction of more dams (highly doubtful; they’ve fought against every proposal for the last 40 years) we would still end up with the same problem. Politicians greedy for enhanced revenues.
Dosent matter what obama does, he is damned if he does, damned if he doesnt by tea party bigots that would even find fault with him if he figured out how to stop world hunger. It takes time and money to fix stuff. If all you naysayers think it would happen for free and by private industry, better get back to your rocks…
Thanks “go figure.” As a citizen, I’ve followed and participated in politics all my life (which means back to the early ’40s) and in my “declining” years I’m totally dismayed by the modern day “Know Nothings,” a group which haunted Lincoln, who have become empowered by, not only the internet resources that provide them a forum for their nonsense, but by the “Know Less Than Nothings” who, with a few key strokes, can become players in what should be, and absent the broad forum of the internet, would be serious discussion.
I also oppose run-on sentences, although you’d never know it.
Hey Dog! Would you rather President Obama invade Iraq and BLOW UP $1.3 Trillion of “other peoples money?” Get over it, when Americans are in trouble WE come together and help each other.
Rhrino, have you seen the Colorado River? It is the most controlled river in the country and it is still dropping in water level Storage does not help if there is nothing to collect. Australian engineers are testing underwater reverse osmosis desalination using Ocean pressure to turn salt water into fresh without using fossil fuel in the process; for less than .4 cents a gallon. (Average cost per gallon is about .2 or .3 per gallon).
Using this type of technology could replenish underground water supplies were there is no loss due to evaporation.
Copper, I like your sense of humor! Your little joke about the illegal massage parlors,”That really rubs me the wrong way”. It took me a few seconds but then I got it. Now you throw in a last line in your comment on politics about how you “oppose run-on sentences, although you’d never know it.” after writng a run-on sentence yourself. Keep them coming, it’s a good break from all the name calling and acusations that go on here.
Always good to get a laugh! Thanks, OLS
Hey Marlene! So, when Bush showed up in New Orleans after Katrina, he was NOT, “political?” How about the other 421 Bush declared disasters? Oh, but that is all history before January 2009 to you isn’t it? So predictable. Gosh, American Presidents helping Americans, what a country!
The elephant in the room that nobody wants to talk about is the population of California. California’s water system was designed for 12,000,000. There hasn’t been a new reservoir built in the state in nearly 40 years. Further, environmental concerns trump humanity in California.
Starving the farmers of water in the Central Valley will do two things – it’ll drive up produce prices, dramatically; it will send the millions of migrant farm workers back to where they came from.
Bitter. The agri-business gets most of the water in California already. Have they planned for this? No. We have over 2700 dams and reservoirs in the state now. We need more fresh water; Desalination can help if done right.
Farming is important. Water is important. Given the climate of California, I wonder why rice is farmed there. Am I crazy, or is rice farming near the Sutter Buttes crazy?
So bk, if all the farm laborers were driven back to where they came from does that mean you will come back to calif? If thats the case I vote to keep the farm workers.
I love this quote…”Yeah. Millions of our own money. Thanks a lot. Pretty generous with other people’s money, isn’t he?” -Dogula.
Tell, please, other than falling on his own sword, what you would suggest the president do.
This should be fun to read.
Notice, no comment from the dog. I think you stumped her hummmmm…
Nope. Not stumped. It’s just that what I would suggest the President do is not fit to print.
Dog. You do realize that when you resort to name calling during a debate, your argument becomes moot.
Please. I haven’t called anybody any names. Go away.
Dog. That cantradicts your previous posts. Leftist, lefties, stupider, takers, tyrant, dictator, etc.
“Please. I haven’t called anybody any names. Go away.”
You call people stupid pigeons a lot, and don’t follow it up with an analysis as to how and why the are stupid. ‘because of x,y,z, you are stupid’ is how you call someone stupid.
For example: ‘so_and_so has failed to demonstrate an ability to define climate. ergo, they are stupid’.