Politics from the Palouse to Puget Sound

Friday, June 22, 2007

The Carnival of Moscow Water Hypocrisy

There was a lot of news about Moscow and its hypocrisy over water issues while I was in Mexico.
Tuesday, June 12, 2007 - For some reason, the Daily News does not have this article in their online archive, and the Moscow City Council minutes have not been published yet, but I the gist of the story was that the Moscow City Council refused to increase its funding to the Palouse Basin Aquifer Committee, which puts the future of that water conservation organization in jeopardy.
This follows the Pullman City Council's move to INCREASE its funding to PBAC. And Queen Nancy "doesn't want any misunderstanding when it comes to her stance on water?"
Monday, June 18, 2007 - The Daily News reports that "Moscow officials say residents aren’t noticeably decreasing their water use as the city heads into its second summer with a tiered water-rate system."
No suprise there. As I pointed out in my last Town Crier column, residential use is the major factor in water usage, and new housing continues to go up in Moscow. Calls to halt retail development to conserve water are just disingenuous left-wing attacks on capitalism, like global warming. As long as people live on the Palouse, the aquifers will continue to be depleted. It's time to cut all the BS about "Yes Moscow, No SuperWalmart!" and finally get serious about finding alternative sources of water, such as graywater, rainwater, and reservoirs. It'll cost money, but that money can come from the sales, utility, and property, taxes generated by new retail stores. Commerical development pays for itself much better than housing growth.
Tuesday, June 19, 2007 - The Daily News reports that "Moscow Mayor Nancy Chaney on Monday appointed Tom Lamar, 46, to fill Bob Stout's seat on the City Council.

[...]

Lamar has been the executive director of the Palouse-Clearwater Environmental Institute for 17 years..."
It was entirely predictable that anti-Wal-Mart union/Democratic activist Stout was replaced by anti-development water activist Lamar. We can see where the fight over the Pullman-Moscow corridor is headed with this appointment.
Wednesday, June 20, 2007 - Daily News editorial states "Moscow must get tough on water use."
It would have been nice had Murf mentioned that Moscow should clean up its own act on water conservation before taking their act on the road to Pullman and Whitman County.

1 comment:

April E. Coggins said...

Murph and the Daily News editorial board are too busy pointing out the obvious bandwagon issues to notice the gross hyprocisy in Moscow. They have a piece of dog excrement attached to their nose and they choose to attack a concerned mother in Colton. If they were hit by a thunderbolt, they would cover the response in the next county.