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SHADES OF 1984 by John Stovall
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HE WILDFIRES THAT have befallen our state might cause one to wonder: Why California? Why now? Other states have forests and nearby communities with electricity— they have not had these firestorms. California itself has had communities with electricity close to and within forests, but without these conflagrations until recently. We’ve had hot and windy days before without the fire storms that face us now. Before we unfairly harass electric workers, we might want to ask those questions. I submit the true causes have been lost down George Orwell’s 1984 “memory hole.” Many Kern residents and others in the San Joaquin Valley are familiar with the loss of water caused by
RES IPSA LOQUITUR
enforcement of “environmental” regulations without regard for human costs. For no significant benefit to the environment, farms and communities in Kern and other south valley counties have lost hundreds of thousands of acre-feet of water. Aside from the cost of that phantom water, we have lost thousands of jobs and millions of dollars in lost crops due to unreasonable enforcement of these regulations. Outside our area many have forgotten facts that have disappeared down the “memory hole.” Some have forgotten that vast segments of forest were declared off limits to normal timber harvesting and clearing of underbrush. Some have forgotten that thousands of jobs in the timber industry were lost as single purpose bureaucrats tried to foster habitat for “endangered species.” Some have forgotten the warnings more than three decades ago that a resulting build-up of underbrush in our forests and grasslands would pose a severe fire hazard. We pillory those trying to provide us with essential electric power, but they are unable to clear brush in most of the forests because of practices that disregard