Newsom Keeps CA Under His Thumb With Emergency Decrees

An opinion piece at Fox News on Friday notes that California’s Gov. Gavin Newsom “sure seems to love ’emergency orders.’ After all, he’s created so many of them.”

“Newsom has taken pains to criticize others as ‘authoritarian’ and is even touring the nation now deriding those whom he thinks exercise unbridled power,” the op-ed reads. “Of course, emergency orders are always about ‘public safety’ and doing things out of ‘an abundance of caution.’ But there’s also an added bonus of making the people more fearful and conditioning them to believe that the only way to be safe is allowing government to exercise more control.”

“Since the state’s COVID emergencies are finally off  his ’emergency orders’ list, there is no shortage of new opportunities for Newsom,” the piece continued. “Cranking out more ’emergencies’ keeps him in the public eye as the governor seeks more national exposure for his presumed presidential run.”

Faced with the reality of his dire predictions concerning climate impact and California facing endless droughts, even Newsom can’t ignore the dramatic change in the water supply (and snow pack) since the sky turned on the faucets.

Newson has since lifted most of the more than 80 California drought edicts that were issued since last spring. But 33 orders remain, as he stopped short of declaring the state’s drought was over. Hanging on to power is addictive.

Newsom explained that climate change makes this all so complicated. He asked, “Are we out of a drought?” And then gave this answer: “Mostly but not completely”:

Reservoirs have been filling up, but huge amounts of water will simply run out to sea, because the state has not been diligent in expanding current reservoirs or building new ones, mostly due to overdone state environmental regulations.

In 2014, voters approved Proposition 1, the water bond act. Most of the $7.5 billion has yet to be spent, and zero new dams have been built. It’s bogged down in delays and regulations.

$2.7 billion of Prop 1 money is to go to “storage.” However, it can only be used for things such as salmon protection and recreation.

“The history of California is replete with droughts and storms. Sometimes there’s a lot of time between them. That’s why we need leaders who will stand up and do what’s needed for the long term,” the op-ed concludes.