What Responsible Governments Do/What California Isn’t Doing

(See also this video)

Forbes has this excellent article about what responsible governments do… and what California does:

…As we all know, the President and others are selling the canard that the current drought is the result of global warming or climate change.  The fact that we had decades- long droughts years before industrialization doesn’t matter to them as they bloviate over a drought of several years.

Simply stated, California government has other priorities – priorities which to them are far more important that ensuring that 38 million people have water. They include:

  • A High Speed Rail project, mired in lawsuits and of uncertain costs – at least $68 billion but perhaps double that amount, and
  • A 2004 $3 billion stem cell bond program ($6 billion with interest) that has produced no approved therapies but has, according to the AP, resulted in “the opening of sleek buildings and gleaming labs at a dozen private and public universities built with matching funds” without any cures in the pipeline.  Of course, now they want more money.

California legislators spend millions more on nonessential items like $2.7 million for a new swimming pool in Calexico near the Mexican border – during a drought.  California is also spending an additional $46.6 million to build up to 54 hydrogen fuel stations to serve a state of 158,648 square miles.  That is one station for every 2,938 square miles.  Hope you don’t get stranded.

Rather than waste money on such projects, which can’t possibly be more important than water, California should look to places like Singapore to learn what a responsible government should be doing. 

Singapore has but 247 square miles.  It is a population of nearly 4.5 million people.  Obviously, it has very little land for such things as reservoirs.   Instead, Singapore relies on 15 reservoirs, desalinated water, water reclamation, and imported water to meet their water needs.   

Singapore obviously made water production a priority for its tiny landmass that is 0.155% of California’s landmass, yet has 8.4% of California’s population.  That is what responsible governments do, and one reason why Singapore has the third highest per-capita GDPs in the world, despite its size and lack of natural resources….