Hannity was in fine form tonight. He was addressing a local issue here in California, the problem of the farmers in the west side of the San Joaquin Valley who depend for part of their water on pumping from the Sacramento Delta.
There is an endangered fish, the delta smelt, that might be affected by the pumps, so the feds have turned off the pumps.
The farmers, predictably are not exactly happy with that decision.
Exacerbating the situation is the lingering drought, which has affected the north more than the south. The Sacramento River is in the north, and has less water than usual.
Giving the other side of the argument was a caller from the north coast, where salmon fishing is the main stay of the economy. Salmon fishing has been suspended for the past couple of years due to reduced runs.
Those reduced runs might be caused, at least in part, by degradation of the water quality of the delta, which is exacerbated by the pumping.
So, the fight, as usual, is over water, and has pitted fisherman against farmers.
Since Hannity was talking to the farmers, he completely ignored the points made by the caller, which were:
1. Come to the north coast (Fort Bragg, Coos Bay, and Eureka) and tell the salmon fishermen why they have been out of work for the past two years.
2. Some of the farmers have been selling subsidized water to Los Angeles at a profit, and doing so legally.
Of course, Hannity completely ignored the caller's points, continuing to say that the problem was a "2 inch minnow" causing people to be out of work.
Hannity is a great showman, I have to admit. I'm personally on his side, as there is really no proof that pumping is affecting either the salmon or the delta smelt.
But, he and I could both be wrong. The fishermen need to be heard as well, and his showmanship doesn't include being able to rationally examine an issue. He's more into bumper sticker solutions.
And, the government needs to put a stop to farmers selling federally subsidized water at a profit to them.
Anyway, this is an interesting issue, at least locally. Maybe no one outside of California knows or cares about the it.
Do you? What do you think?
There is an endangered fish, the delta smelt, that might be affected by the pumps, so the feds have turned off the pumps.
The farmers, predictably are not exactly happy with that decision.
Exacerbating the situation is the lingering drought, which has affected the north more than the south. The Sacramento River is in the north, and has less water than usual.
Giving the other side of the argument was a caller from the north coast, where salmon fishing is the main stay of the economy. Salmon fishing has been suspended for the past couple of years due to reduced runs.
Those reduced runs might be caused, at least in part, by degradation of the water quality of the delta, which is exacerbated by the pumping.
So, the fight, as usual, is over water, and has pitted fisherman against farmers.
Since Hannity was talking to the farmers, he completely ignored the points made by the caller, which were:
1. Come to the north coast (Fort Bragg, Coos Bay, and Eureka) and tell the salmon fishermen why they have been out of work for the past two years.
2. Some of the farmers have been selling subsidized water to Los Angeles at a profit, and doing so legally.
Of course, Hannity completely ignored the caller's points, continuing to say that the problem was a "2 inch minnow" causing people to be out of work.
Hannity is a great showman, I have to admit. I'm personally on his side, as there is really no proof that pumping is affecting either the salmon or the delta smelt.
But, he and I could both be wrong. The fishermen need to be heard as well, and his showmanship doesn't include being able to rationally examine an issue. He's more into bumper sticker solutions.
And, the government needs to put a stop to farmers selling federally subsidized water at a profit to them.
Anyway, this is an interesting issue, at least locally. Maybe no one outside of California knows or cares about the it.
Do you? What do you think?
