Free Speech....

[Darian]

Not sure if anyone (other than me) was disturbed by the recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that corporations are entitled to the protections of freedom of speech provided by the First Amendment of the Constitution. In arriving at this decision, the court has essentially said that corporations are to be afforded the same protections as a natural (human) person. A corporation is a legal construct defined as a person for business purposes only. I'm reasonably sure that original drafters of the constitution did not anticipate/intend that this legal concept would end up being defined as equal in standing to a human being....

Getting past the obvious, higher level issues, we've crossed a significant line in this case. I'm concerned with the immediate impact this will have Delta water problems and outcomes. Since the dollar amounts of monetary donations by corporations to advocate their desires will no longer be limited, we can expect that the level of "noise" from growers and downstream users will probably block out the sun; literally buying whatever outcome they want. Further, legal challenges by conservation groups may become less effective as corporate growers/water users will be able to outspend opponents in efforts to lobby for their cause....

In view of the current, politically motivated review of the Delta science, and this decision, we may be witnessing the end of the Delta as another water transfer facility.

[Darian]

If anyone here needs proof of the power of money, take a close look at the article on the front page of the Forum Section in todays SacBee, "Tapping into anger". It's a pretty good attempt at a balanced/informative article about the situation in the Delta. The part that's really interesting to me is that Westlands has sought out a Senator from South Carolina to carry proposed federal legislation exempting Westlands from EPA for purposes of resumption of pumping in the Delta.

This action by Westlands was, apparently, seen by Senator Feinstein as an "end run" around her efforts. Ironic as she has working behind the scenes to advance the cause of growers....

Now, this took place before the U.S. Supreme Court made it's ruling making money an expression of free speech on the part of corporations. Just imagine what's going to happen now....