This week, the
media continued
to bemoan the California drought while downplaying how much water we’re losing
due to environmental regulations. I took on some of the media spin about the
water crisis last week in an article
for National Review. Writing for the same magazine, Kevin Williamson has
a piece out today debunking the common argument
that global warming is to blame for the crisis. Read his piece “Global Warming
Guacamole” here.
Separately, the
Nunes Digest is updated for your weekend reading here.
The
effects of Governor Jerry Brown’s water restrictions continue to reverberate
across the state. A lot of the media coverage blames farmers for the crisis
without even mentioning the environmental regulations that have been decimating
the Central Valley water supply for decades. I offer a corrective to the
media’s reporting in a new article here,
and I argue my points in a Fox News report here.
And in case you missed it, you can see my comments on the House floor last year
on the water crisis by clicking on the picture below:
The national
media suddenly took notice of the California water wars this week after
Governor Brown announced state-wide water restrictions. It’s nice to see some
media interest in the problem, though they’re coming pretty late to the game.
It’s amazing how a decades-long crisis in the Valley turns into a big story
once the effects hit San Francisco and other coastal enclaves.
Governor Brown,
President Obama, and many others are blaming the water crisis on global
warming, but I have a different take. To watch my remarks during a water debate
on the House floor last year, click here. For a
comprehensive rebuttal of our opponents’ arguments, click here.
Additionally,
take a look at articles by Victor Davis Hanson on this issue here and here.
I
just returned from a trip to Europe and the Middle East, where a highlight was
the chance to meet with U.S. troops stationed overseas. I also spoke to
representatives of our Middle Eastern allies, who are rightfully worried by
spreading instability and violence. Aside from the battle against ISIS in
Syria, Iraq, and northern Africa, Iran is a major concern. Using proxy militias
as well as their own special forces, the mullahs are aggressively expanding their
influence in Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Yemen, and elsewhere.
The
specter of Iran gaining nuclear capabilities hangs over the region.
Unsurprisingly, the framework agreement that the Obama administration recently
signed with Iran did not ease our allies’ concerns. Instead of forcing the
mullahs to completely abandon their nuclear program, the Obama administration will
allow numerous nuclear sites, thousands of centrifuges, and other
key parts of the program to remain intact. Our allies struggle to understand
why the Iranian regime – the world’s biggest sponsor of terrorism – can
extract so many concessions from the world’s superpower. This is part of a
strange pattern with the Obama administration – stridently anti-American
regimes in Iran and Cuba are persistently courted, while relations with close
allies like the Kurds, Jordan, Israel, and Egypt are diminished.
Separately,
as you know, Gov. Brown has announced mandatory water restrictions for the
first time in California history. This provoked the New York Times to
dutifully parrot
talking points that connect the drought to global warming. As I mentioned in a
press statement,
neither the drought nor global warming has caused the water crisis in the
Central Valley, where the irrigation system was designed to withstand five
years of drought. The crisis exists because our water is being diverted for
environmental causes, as Victor Davis Hanson explains here. Now that the
Governor resorted to water rationing, I hope he will reconsider his opposition
to all the bills we passed in the House of Representatives that would alleviate
the water crisis.
On
another note, I wanted to draw your attention to the Fresno Bee article here
about Pete Dern, the Fresno firefighter who was critically injured after falling
through a roof while battling a blaze. The article provides information on
where you can donate to Dern and upcoming blood drives for him.
Finally,
the Nunes Digest is updated for your weekend reading here.
