Environmentalists

U.S. Fish & Wildlife to Introduce Wolves into Gila, Navajo, Graham, and Coconino Counties

Anita Christy

The following article was written by Donna Daly, a resident of Gila County.  If you live in Gila, Navajo, Graham, or Coconino county, or if you have a cabin in any of these areas, or if you have a business in these counties, you need to read every sentence of Ms. Daly’s article.  The deadline for comments to the U.S. Fish & Game is 10/28/2013.  No hearings have been scheduled in areas where these wolves are to be released!   All of the animal rights activists from across America know about it.  Not us!   These members of the Sierra Club and Defenders of Wildlife don’t even live in Arizona where these animals will  be released.  I live within 30 feet of the Tonto National Forest.  I know what coyotes can do.  I love all wild animals.  I love wolves.  It is criminal to release them in these areas, where they will be shot and killed by people protecting their families and livelihood.  If the animal rights people want to preserve wolves, release them in remote areas, not near people, and especially not near children!  Don’t release them where they will kill pets and livestock and ruin the economy of the towns that thrive on the recreational trade.   

This is what Nancy Pelosi, Barack Obama, Harry Reid, and all the Democrats want!  They want to grind America into the ground. 

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Gilbert Town Council Member Jared Taylor’s Opinion about adopting the 2012 ICC Building Codes

Anita Christy

This afternoon, July 30, 2013, the Town Council meets in a Study Session at 4 pm to talk about the 2012 ICC building codes.  Click here for more information.   Your attendance in support of the citizens of Gilbert is appreciated.  

A few weeks ago, I asked each Council member for his/her opinion on who has the burden of proof for adopting codes into law? Should individual citizens be expected to prove that each of hundreds of codes should NOT be made law?  Or should Town employees be required to prove why they SHOULD be made law?  

In response to that question, Council Member Jared Taylor responded by copying me on an email he sent on July 9 to Patrick Banger, Gilbert’s Town Manager:

Hi Patrick,

As far as I can tell, the purpose of having building codes is to solve problems.  For example, smoke detectors save lives so we mandate them.  There is clear data to show this.

As I’ve listened to Kyle’s team, I’m not sure they are focused on solving problems in our community, but more on passing along the recommendations from national/international bodies.

I realize a few state-mandated items were withdrawn, but that didn’t come from our building community.  Don’t get me wrong, the IBC’s have some positive things in them.

As you probably know, the 2012 codes will add hundreds of new regulations on our builders.  Many builders will profit by the additional work and just pass the cost on to our citizens.  The citizens will eventually carry the cost of all the expensive fees, inspections, and hours it takes to design, review, and inspect to the new and existing regulations.  This will cost Gilbert families millions of additional dollars very quickly.  I wonder about the real value here and can’t support something that isn’t empirically validated to solve problems.

As a result, it seems reasonable that I get hard empirical justification on every new regulation that is being recommended.  I would like to see the statistics of how many injuries, deaths, or other harms the lack each regulation has caused in Gilbert and how this new regulation is proven to address the issue.   

If we are not solving actual problems, we are simply creating a huge amount of waste for our citizens in government jobs, fees, reviews, inspections, etc.  This is a simple ROI exercise that should have been part of the original process.

I would like to have someone on your team provide me this analysis. I’m OK to receive it in a spreadsheet. I know this may seem like a tall order, but given the massive imposition on our community these hundreds of new regulations will place, it’s really not that much.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Thanks,

Jared

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They’re Baaaaaaack! Gilbert’s Building, Energy and Green Codes, that is

Anita Christy

The following FREE MARKET KILLING CODES are currently in effect, thanks to Mayor John Lewis, Vice Mayor Ben Cooper, and Council Members Jenn Daniels and Jordan Ray:  

2012 International Building Code 

2012 International Residential Code 

2012 International Mechanical Code 

2012 International Plumbing Code 

2012 International Fuel Gas Code 

2006 International Energy Conservation Code 

2012 International Fire Code 

2011 National Electrical Code  

Building and Construction Regulations Code of the Town of Gilbert, Arizona – 2013 Edition

This Thursday night, 1/30/2014, 4 Gilbert Council Members, including Mayor John Lewis, claiming to  "represent" Gilbert families, will very likely, once again, turn deaf, dumb, and blind to them and add to the above unnecessary codes.  The new addition is proposed:  The Leftist inspired Energy and Green Codes!  Unless Gilbert staff members can present valid arguments to support that these codes are necessary to health and safety, they should all be voluntary, not LAW.  Please send an email to Mayor Lewis and all Council Members and ask them to please vote NO to these Energy and Green Codes.  They should be voluntary:  Councilmembers@GilbertAZ.gov.  

A public records request made by Gordon Ray revealed that 57 people had emailed Mayor John Lewis and all Council Members to NOT adopt the 2012 unnecessary codes (that they adopted anyway).  They should have remained voluntary.  Only 4 people emailed to adopt them, including a Washington lobbyist and a representative from SRP.  Yet, the 2012 codes were adopted.

Three Council Members have been opposed to unnecessary codes.  These Council Members include:  Victor Petersen, Jared Taylor, and Eddie Cook.   It will be unfortunate if Mayor John Lewis and the other three Council Members continue to listen to and obey the direction of staff (aka so-called "experts") who want to grow their bureaucracy and inflict more regulations on Gilbert families.  Unless you can break through their resistance,Mayor Lewis and three council members will be mezmerized by the Planners, Building Examiners, Inspectors, and Code Enforcers.

Mayor Lewis and the other three Council Members also listen to organizations such as the Gilbert Chamber of Commerce and the Small Business Alliance.  Some of their members stand to make big bucks because their products will be forced on Gilbert families. Their products will have to be purchased by law.  (Code = Regulation = Law.)

Welcome to Gilbert’s Administrative State!    Here are the Council members who have demonstrated by their votes that they don’t care about you and your goofy rants about Liberty, Freedom, Property Rights, and the Free Market.  To them, you are the unheard, unlamented, unwanted. They get really tired of hearing about "the Founders."   (Oh, but they will strut and preen at the next "celebration" of Constitution Week USA.  Just watch.)    

Mayor John Lewis
Vice Mayor Ben Cooper
Council Member Jenn Daniels
Council Member Jordan Ray

Do you think I’m being "harsh" toward these wonderfully "nice" people? Consider how they have been treating their constituents. 

The fight against the adoption of unnecessary building codes has been going on for a YEAR!  A private business that lobbies for new codes that will gain financially by the codes has a conflict of interest .Power. Control, and Money is what this is all about, Not Safety and Energy/Green.  

Rusdon and Gordon Ray haven’t received a single penny for the work they have done to stop these code adoptions.  In fact, everything they have done to fight these swarms of unnecessary codes has cost them and their families time, effort, and money.  Do you think the Town Council is weary of this issue?  How do you think Gordon and Rusdon feel?  Not to mention the many families of the tradesmen and builders who have been fighting along with them. 

Please inform Gilbert voters how these elected officials "stood up for them" by showing them the voting record of these people who have consistently voted FOR these free market killing codes. 

Please email Mayor Lewis and all Council Members asking them to PLEASE VOTE NO to adopting the Green and Energy Codes.  They should be voluntary.  Councilmembers@GilbertAZ.gov

See also (for the last YEAR, and this isn’t even a complete list):

 

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Is Power from the Navajo Generating Station too Costly for CAP?

Anita Christy

by Patrick O’Malley

Central Arizona Project (CAP) provides Maricopa, Pinal, and Pima counties with 1.5 million acre feet of water every year. Navajo Generating Station (NGS) is the major source of electrical power to CAP, and electricity is CAP’s biggest operating expense. NGS continues to be one of the biggest problems facing CAP.

The EPA Wants $1.1 Billion in Pollution Controls

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) wants NGS to add additional pollution controls with a price tag of $1.1 billion. A letter of understanding by the Directors of the EPA, the Department of the Interior, and the Department of Energy in January gave NGS more time to study the issue, but it’s not likely to change the answer.  All three of those Directors at the EPA have since resigned, so it’s not up to them anymore.

Recently Rep. Matt Salmon sent a letter to the EPA asking them to take into account the economic impact on Arizona of additional pollution controls at NGS for negligible air quality improvement.   The EPA has been known to take economic issues into account in the past. But will they do it for a coal fired power plant?

Navajo Tribal Council Wants 15 Times More in Lease Payments

Plus, there’s a new problem for NGS.   The Navajo Generating Station is located on Navajo Nation land, and the coal it burns comes from a mine on Navajo land.  Both the lease and the coal mining agreement are up for renegotiation.

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Report on the 11/14/2013 EPA Hearing: Navajo Generating Station

Anita Christy

by Patrick O’Malley
Precinct Committeeman (LD12)

At the EPA Hearing on November 14, the EPA asked those who wished to speak to come up and take a seat at the front table two at a time for efficiency. So I’m making my comments and the guy sitting next to me is with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. Is he supposed to be the balance to my conservative comments? No, we are both there trying to convince the EPA to leave Navajo Generating Station (NGS) alone. Or at least leave something in operation after they make their final ruling, because we both clearly see the damage changes at NGS will have on Arizona’s economy. It’s not just a federal authority out of control or state’s rights issue. This agency is messing with our everyday lives.

There were about 200 people at the hearing and about 100 of them made statements. It broke pretty cleanly into the Sierra Club wanting quick, drastic changes that will close NGS, and everybody else. Everybody else included legislators, union workers, Central Arizona Project, farmers, Indian Tribes, and average citizens. Rep. Warren Petersen and Joy Staveley from Canyoneers wanted the EPA completely out of our business and to back off completely from NGS. They have the right principles for the long term fight with the EPA, but I’m afraid it’s too late for principles to triumph on NGS.

The Technical Working Group (TWG) Negotiates a Surrender

In June of this year the Technical Working Group (TWG) got together and proposed a negotiated surrender as opposed to having the EPA force them into an unconditional surrender. TWG consists of Salt River Project and the Department of the Interior as major owners of NGS; Central Arizona Project (CAP) as the biggest customer of NGS; Gila River Indian Community as a major customer of CAP; the Navajo Nation because NGS is on their land, and they supply the coal to make it go; and two environmental groups, Environmental Defense Fund and Western Resource Advocates. The Sierra Club was originally part of TWG, but walked out when the plan wasn’t severe enough to satisfy them.

So why didn’t the State of Arizona get a seat at the TWG table? Technically because the EPA is dealing directly with the Navajo Nation and it’s not an Arizona issue, but it’s safe to assume the other members of TWG were afraid a State of Arizona representative couldn’t be trusted to surrender fast enough.

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The War on Coal

Anita Christy

by Patrick O’Malley
Precinct Committeeman (LD12)

The war on coal is not over and writing your Congressman is not enough. Obama’s EPA is fighting this war for him, and so far they’ve managed to keep the issue out of Congress by using new EPA rules and executive orders.

The prime target in Arizona is the Navajo Generating Station (NGS) in Page which generates 90% of the electricity used by the Central Arizona Project (CAP).   CAP is the major water supplier for Tucson and all the cities in the Phoenix area, plus all the farms in between. Mohave power plant is already gone; shutting it down made more sense than complying with new EPA regulations. Coronado, Cholla, and Apache power plants are also targeted.

The owners of NGS recently revealed their grand plan to comply with EPA demands without spending a billion dollars. They will shut down part of the plant, so they don’t produce as much pollution. They won’t produce as much electricity either, but that’s somebody else’s problem.

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Pelosi and the Democrats want to Destroy the Navajo Nation

Anita Christy

Thanks to Andy McKinney for the following post.  

Dear Friends,

Nancy Pelosi is attacking the Navajo nation with a fury not seen for over a century.  She and her Democrat Party allies have set their sights on the economic and social destruction of the Navajo nation.

Fifty percent of the economically active people on the Navajo reservation are unemployed.  The nation participates in three interconnected operations providing $100,000,000 for the Navajo people. These are the Kayenta coal mine, the Navajo Generating Station (NGS) and the railroad that connects the two.  Losing the NGS means the loss of this entire economy, not just for the Navajo people, but also for the people who benefit and depend on it for their own livelihoods.

Pelosi wants to close the generating station on utterly bogus environmental grounds.  

 She and her Democrat Party Pals want to crush the economic life out of the Navajos.  For her, Navajos shouldn’t be allowed to have high paying railroad, mining, or power generating jobs. For her, food stamps and poverty are all the Navajo people can aspire to.

Fortunately, the Navajo coal miners are represented by the United Mine Workers of America UMWA).  Perhaps the Democrat Party will not throw their allies in big labor under the bus in favor of their allies in the environmental wacko movement.  Ninety-eight percent of the UMWA members at Kayenta are Navajo.

Save the Navajo.  Stop the Democrat Party.

 

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Rep. Paul Gosar Rallies Thousands to Fight for Energy Jobs

Anita Christy

The issue of jobs in Arizona is critical, as Patrick O’Malley has explained in two articles:  The War on Coal, and The War on Coal: Take Action.  Mr. O’Malley also illustrates the devastating effect that the EPA’s actions will have on raising the cost of water and electricity to all Arizonans.  Under the Obama Administration, the EPA has taken charge over our lives.  We no longer have a well behaved Rottweiler under control in our household.  The Rottweiler has taken control.    

As you can see from this press release issued by Republican Congressman Paul Gosar, he’s helping us fight off the EPA’s belligerance.  But he cannot do it alone!  Patrick O’Malley has provided two sample emails that you can send to the EPA, copying him, so he can physically and publicly hand them to the EPA at the hearing on November 14.  The carbon letter must be emailed by Nov. 8.  The NOx letter must be emailed by Nov. 14.  Please copy Patrick O’Malley on both of these emailed letters.  His email address is pat.o@azcitrus.com. 

Here is Rep. Gosar’s Press Release:

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