Congress created a dust bowl that rivals the New Orleans Katrina disaster and yet, the Obama administration has allowed the situation to get worse and FEMA won't help to feed the starving people. Catch the story here:
http://calbizblog.com/2009/06/25/congress-created-dust-bowl.aspx
and then go to the Wall Street Journal for the food line article in the September 2, 2009 issue:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125184588670777629.html
Before and After photographs of the Central Valley disaster
http://www.delmarfarms.com/
http://beetlebabee.wordpress.com/2009/06/01/dead-and-dying-californias-central-valley-dust-bowl/
The slow death of fields of fruit and vegetable crops and groves of fruit and nut trees in the Central Valley of California has been in the news for several years because of water rationing to protect a fish. The thousands of workers who are unemployed and the farmers who have seen their businesses wither away have cried out for help.
Our federal government has refused to let the waters flow and now FEMA denies aid to those who are starving and out of work. Van Jones, President Obama's advisor and Green Czar was critical of the last administration's failures to quickly respond to the Katrina mess. He said, in his book, The Green Collar Economy:
"…it wasn't Hurricane Katrina that wrought that catastrophe. It was a "perfect storm" of a different kind: neglect of our national infrastructure combined with runaway global warming and blatant disregard for the poor." [p. 22]
In his dissertation on food, he made a case against importing and exporting food that is grown in the U.S. because of the pollution generated. ["Food" p. 125-132].
It seems to me that the Obama administration has had the power and the time to turn the disaster around that threatens the health and survival of the farming community in the Central Valley. That it chooses to ignore the people who have pleaded for water for several years is indicative of Obama's inability to govern responsibly. This "perfect storm" can be disrupted by the current administration – it seems to have held the former administration to a higher standard with Katrina while turning a blind eye to the disaster in California.
Van Jones says: "…every people is a chosen people". [p. 77] Our present government is making an exception with the Central Valley people. Barak Obama and Van Jones make use of people of faith to move their programs – they should take some advice from the Handbook where it says:
"Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to do it."
[Proverbs 3:27]
Dear Mr. President,
I cannot understand the inaction of your administration to the cries for help from the people of California's Central Valley. I remember it as a lush farming area. Like the green and prosperous irrigated communities around New Mexico that I saw this summer, the Central Valley was a place of pride among the poor and immigrants who worked the soil for generations.
You've had time to rectify the problem of water rationing but, so far, the absence of action has led to food lines in communities that should be self-sufficient.
While I don't agree with Van Jones' politics, I applaud his efforts to help people. You might benefit from reading his book, The Green Collar Economy. Look, particularly, at the section about food [p. 125-132]. Coming from Chicago, you are, or should be, familiar with the commendable efforts that Jones describes.
I can't understand how a former "community organizer" who's achieved what you have, is able to allow the devastation of a major agricultural area that is so essential to the well-being of the people of the United States and the strength of the economy.
The "Hope" that I voted for has turned out to be a big disappointment.
"Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to do it."
[Proverbs 3:27]
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