Losing weight is healthy.
But when someone gets obsessed with being too thin it isn't healthy.
Anorexia is dangerous and can be deadly.
Uncle Sam is putting the San Joaquin Valley on what is essentially an anorexic diet.
Everyone agrees clear air is healthy.
You must remember, though, that air quality isn't obtained in a vacuum. There are real people with real needs such as unemployed people who need jobs to feed their families.
The latest dictate being imposed on the valley has the potential of ravaging the economy much like anorexia can destroy one's organs.
You could take every vehicle off the road in the valley or convert them to 100 percent electric and we still won't meet the new Environmental Perfection Agency mandate.
The valley has slashed dirty air by more than half since the 1980s despite the valley population doubling.
Let's see Fargo in North Dakota - the cleanest city in the nation - accomplish that little feat. They aren't ringed on four sides by pesky mountain ranges. Fargo has nothing to hold air pollution in place. It just blows away on the Great Plains. Their air quality may not get worse, but it won't improve by 50 percent.
Fargo also isn't part of the "new Appalachia." That is what the federal government re-christened the San Joaquin Valley. The 353-page report issued in 2005 by the Congressional Research Service was blunt. The per capita income in the eight-county San Joaquin Valley was lower than in the Central Appalachia region. Rates of welfare dependency are higher here not to mention the cost of living is significantly higher than in the Central Appalachia region. The Valley depends largely on agriculture. Appalachia depends largely on mining.
In order to meet the EPA mandates the valley essentially would have to idle the trucking industry and stop all farming activities. And if we don't meet the EPA dictate, they are threatening to halt the expansion of all existing businesses as well as blocking any new ones from locating in the valley.
Just what the New Appalachia needs: Uncle Sam killing jobs.
Forget the fact we've made significant strides. That's not good enough.
It's like telling your 6-foot-tall teen he's too fat at 310 pounds. Then after he drops down to 170 pounds you tell him that's not good enough and that he must lose more or else.
If the Valley was collectively a child, Uncle Sam would be up on child endangerment charges for what he is demanding.
To say Uncle Sam has bad parenting skills is a gross understatement.
The overall health of the valley isn't just in air quality. If there are no jobs, everything else goes south. The poverty level spikes even higher. The illiteracy rate soars. Welfare costs skyrocket.
Ronald Reagan was right.
The nine most terrifying words in the English language are, "I'm from the government and I'm here to help."
But when someone gets obsessed with being too thin it isn't healthy.
Anorexia is dangerous and can be deadly.
Uncle Sam is putting the San Joaquin Valley on what is essentially an anorexic diet.
Everyone agrees clear air is healthy.
You must remember, though, that air quality isn't obtained in a vacuum. There are real people with real needs such as unemployed people who need jobs to feed their families.
The latest dictate being imposed on the valley has the potential of ravaging the economy much like anorexia can destroy one's organs.
You could take every vehicle off the road in the valley or convert them to 100 percent electric and we still won't meet the new Environmental Perfection Agency mandate.
The valley has slashed dirty air by more than half since the 1980s despite the valley population doubling.
Let's see Fargo in North Dakota - the cleanest city in the nation - accomplish that little feat. They aren't ringed on four sides by pesky mountain ranges. Fargo has nothing to hold air pollution in place. It just blows away on the Great Plains. Their air quality may not get worse, but it won't improve by 50 percent.
Fargo also isn't part of the "new Appalachia." That is what the federal government re-christened the San Joaquin Valley. The 353-page report issued in 2005 by the Congressional Research Service was blunt. The per capita income in the eight-county San Joaquin Valley was lower than in the Central Appalachia region. Rates of welfare dependency are higher here not to mention the cost of living is significantly higher than in the Central Appalachia region. The Valley depends largely on agriculture. Appalachia depends largely on mining.
In order to meet the EPA mandates the valley essentially would have to idle the trucking industry and stop all farming activities. And if we don't meet the EPA dictate, they are threatening to halt the expansion of all existing businesses as well as blocking any new ones from locating in the valley.
Just what the New Appalachia needs: Uncle Sam killing jobs.
Forget the fact we've made significant strides. That's not good enough.
It's like telling your 6-foot-tall teen he's too fat at 310 pounds. Then after he drops down to 170 pounds you tell him that's not good enough and that he must lose more or else.
If the Valley was collectively a child, Uncle Sam would be up on child endangerment charges for what he is demanding.
To say Uncle Sam has bad parenting skills is a gross understatement.
The overall health of the valley isn't just in air quality. If there are no jobs, everything else goes south. The poverty level spikes even higher. The illiteracy rate soars. Welfare costs skyrocket.
Ronald Reagan was right.
The nine most terrifying words in the English language are, "I'm from the government and I'm here to help."
