What do you call a place that houses politicians who might just be the biggest hypocrites in the country? You’d call it California, of course. Filled with far-left politicians, California more often than not employs the mantra of ‘do as I say, not as I do.’
On Thursday, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Chief Andrew Wheeler sent a letter to far-left California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) asking for a “remedial plan from the state detailing the steps it is taking to address the issues raised” in the letter, which state that California “is failing to meet its obligations required under delegated federal programs.”
Basically, the California government talks a good environmental game but doesn’t back it up. Heck, if it wasn’t for a conservative activist leading a movement to help clean up big cities last weekend, Los Angeles would be even dirtier than it already is.
Anyway, as noted in the letter to Newsom:
The EPA is aware of the growing homelessness crisis developing in major California cities, including Los Angeles and San Francisco, and the impact of this crisis on the environment. Indeed, press reports indicate that “piles of human feces” on sidewalks and streets in these cities are becoming all too common. The EPA is concerned about the potential water quality impacts from pathogens and other contaminants from untreated human waste entering nearby waters. San Francisco, Los Angeles and the state do no appear to be acting with urgency to mitigate the risks to human health and the environment that may result from the homelessness crisis. California is responsible for implementing appropriate municipal storm water management and waste treatment requirements as part of its assumed federal program. The state is failing to properly implement these programs.
Ouch! I guess all the talk in California from its politicians about climate change is just that — talk.
Another troubling practice that California, in particular San Francisco, employs is dumping a ridiculous amount of sewage into the “San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean” with less than adequate treatments.
The letter reported:
Even more troubling is the City of San Francisco’s years-long practice — allowed by CalEPA — of routinely discharging more than one billion gallons of combined sewage and stormwater into San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean on an annual basis. The CWA requires municipal sewage be treated to certain levels and to meet water quality standards. Nonetheless, although San Francisco’s combined sewer outfalls discharge to sensitive waters, these discharges do not receive biological treatment. Instead, San Francisco’s combined sewer overflows are designed to remove floatables and settleable solids only and do not always achieve even that low level of treatment. These discharges may be contributing to the state’s failure to meet water quality standards. By failing to maintain its sewer infrastructure, the city allowed raw sewage to back up into homes and businesses.
Eww! Come on, California. Get your s**t together! See what I did there?
The letter noted that there really isn’t an excuse as to why California hasn’t been keeping up with its obligation to implement programs within the parameters of the Clean Water Act (CWA).
“Apart from the state’s significant tax base, California received more than $1.16 billion of federal funds to implement CWA programs just in the last five years, including $253.5 million in FY2018 and $247 million in FY2019,” Wheeler wrote. “In addition, California received more than $152 million in categorical grants over this time to improve compliance with the CWA.”
Wheeler also gave Newsom a “request.”
“For each of the delegated or assumed programs discussed in this letter, I request a written response within 30 days outlining in detail how California intends to address the concerns and violations identified herein,” the letter detailed in its conclusion.
Maybe if people like Newsom, and a boatload of other federal, state and local politicians in and from California, practiced what they preached in terms of caring about the health of the planet, they wouldn’t be receiving letters that sound like they’re being put in a timeout.
H/T: Washington Post