New Times / Letter To The Editor

Don't fall for that CEQA screed

Andrew Christie

We are impressed that Andy Caldwell managed to take a break from the demands of his COLAB radio show—where he chums it up with regular guests such as swift-boater Jerome Corsi, “birther” and Tea Party Manifesto author Joseph Farah, and the staff of the virulently anti-environmental Pacific Legal Foundation—to write a lengthy screed against the California Environmental Quality Act and urge readers to support Governor Brown’s campaign to “reform” the law (“Flies and fungus vs. jobs and prosperity,” Feb. 28). (Memo to Governor Brown: Take a good look at your new friends.)

As much as it is about the environment, CEQA is about protecting democracy. It gives a community a voice in projects that promise to significantly impact that community and its quality of life. “Reformers” like COLAB and co. are painting a crude cartoon of CEQA in their campaign to convince the public to surrender the power to protect their communities. We trust the public won’t fall for it.