WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:06.679 One of the big issues that makes things expensive in California, 2 00:00:06.799 --> 00:00:12.599 makes especially homes expensive in California, are environmental regulations that 3 00:00:12.640 --> 00:00:20.640 make building really difficult, and perhaps the foremost example of 4 00:00:20.679 --> 00:00:27.399 that is called SEQUA, the California Environmental Quality Act. What 5 00:00:27.440 --> 00:00:37.799 does SEQUA do. SEQUA requires a lot of preliminary environmental 6 00:00:38.000 --> 00:00:45.719 impact reports to be provided before major kinds of construction 7 00:00:46.119 --> 00:00:49.439 can take place and major kinds of real estate developments. 8 00:00:50.759 --> 00:00:56.399 Sometimes a city can perform those environmental impact reports for 9 00:00:56.439 --> 00:01:01.479 sort of a whole region, for a whole portion of 10 00:01:01.479 --> 00:01:05.359 the city, and that can be sufficient for developers who 11 00:01:05.359 --> 00:01:09.120 want to build within that city. But here's the other 12 00:01:09.200 --> 00:01:13.079 problem with SEQUA is that even if a governmental entity 13 00:01:13.159 --> 00:01:15.439 does that, even if the State of California does that, 14 00:01:18.480 --> 00:01:23.959 outside people can sue to stop it. Outside people can 15 00:01:24.040 --> 00:01:27.599 sue to argue, no, no, no, no, no, that environmental 16 00:01:27.640 --> 00:01:35.239 impact report is insufficient. This construction project is going to 17 00:01:35.280 --> 00:01:39.280 have all kinds of longer term, broader environmental harms that 18 00:01:40.200 --> 00:01:42.200 they're not going to harm. Me myself and I I 19 00:01:42.319 --> 00:01:44.560 the person filowing this lawsuit. I who could be anybody. 20 00:01:44.560 --> 00:01:48.400 I could be some random nonprofit funded by someone in 21 00:01:48.439 --> 00:01:51.359 Los Angeles, doesn't give a fig about anything in Fresno. Really, 22 00:01:51.680 --> 00:01:54.200 but I can come into Fresno. I can swoop in 23 00:01:54.319 --> 00:02:02.159 and stop massive construction and home building project at this 24 00:02:02.280 --> 00:02:05.319 time where we desperately need more housing. We need more 25 00:02:05.319 --> 00:02:07.400 housing for lower income people, we need more housing for 26 00:02:07.439 --> 00:02:10.240 the middle class. We need more housing in general, and 27 00:02:10.280 --> 00:02:13.960 we don't have it. If there's lots of demand and 28 00:02:14.000 --> 00:02:16.560 low supply, what does that do to price? You all 29 00:02:16.599 --> 00:02:23.000 know what it does. Price goes up. And this is 30 00:02:23.080 --> 00:02:28.159 the insanity of sequa, the fact that almost anybody, including 31 00:02:28.240 --> 00:02:33.479 people who might not give a rat's rear end about 32 00:02:33.520 --> 00:02:38.439 the environment. You could have a competing real estate developer 33 00:02:40.280 --> 00:02:45.240 swoop in to stop arrival from starting a project with 34 00:02:45.360 --> 00:02:52.680 some spurious, you know, environmental lawsuit. You could have, you know, 35 00:02:53.080 --> 00:02:56.919 someone who doesn't want lower income housing to be built 36 00:02:56.919 --> 00:02:59.759 in their community because they want to preserve the value 37 00:02:59.800 --> 00:03:04.280 of their homes. A sort of nimby attack. Not in 38 00:03:04.360 --> 00:03:09.639 my backyard. So the reasons why people can stop construction 39 00:03:09.759 --> 00:03:14.919 projects in California using the environmental the California Environmental Quality Act, 40 00:03:15.039 --> 00:03:17.840 they could have nothing really to do with the environment. 41 00:03:17.879 --> 00:03:21.719 They could they could just use environmental impact as a 42 00:03:21.919 --> 00:03:25.080 smoke screen for their true intentions, their their actual desire 43 00:03:25.120 --> 00:03:29.280 to either limit competition, to stop lower income people from 44 00:03:29.400 --> 00:03:36.479 living in their communities, et cetera, et cetera. This is 45 00:03:36.520 --> 00:03:39.840 happening in Fresno. There's been a big problem with the 46 00:03:39.840 --> 00:03:44.960 City of Fresno, their sort of environmental plan that has 47 00:03:45.000 --> 00:03:50.719 been sued and blocked, and a huge number of construction 48 00:03:50.800 --> 00:03:52.680 projects in the City of Fresno that are going to 49 00:03:52.719 --> 00:03:57.879 grind to a halt as a result. Here's the story 50 00:03:57.879 --> 00:04:00.800 on it by Edward Smith in GVY. This is a 51 00:04:00.840 --> 00:04:04.400 big deal. Fresno business and political leaders are getting a 52 00:04:04.400 --> 00:04:07.080 better sense of the impacts of an August sixth court 53 00:04:07.159 --> 00:04:10.240 ruling against the city's environmental assessment. So the city does 54 00:04:10.240 --> 00:04:14.000 this environmental assessment, and this provides sort of the cover 55 00:04:14.439 --> 00:04:18.040 for people doing development projects within the City of Fresno, 56 00:04:20.600 --> 00:04:24.759 allowing them to build. This satisfies the requirements of California 57 00:04:24.800 --> 00:04:27.920 environmental law that the city has done this environmental assessment. Okay, 58 00:04:27.959 --> 00:04:31.120 if we develop in this way, doing these kinds of 59 00:04:31.240 --> 00:04:34.639 developments along this kind of a zoning pattern, So this spot, 60 00:04:35.000 --> 00:04:39.439 you know, designated for residential, this spot designated for industrial, 61 00:04:40.800 --> 00:04:43.399 then you can build residential and industrial without doing your 62 00:04:43.399 --> 00:04:49.800 own separate environmental impact report. A list of projects sent 63 00:04:49.920 --> 00:04:54.480 to city leaders shows construction was halted on hundreds of 64 00:04:54.639 --> 00:04:59.240 homes and several businesses, even though the City of Fresno 65 00:04:59.439 --> 00:05:03.720 list acquired by gv wire shows two dozen projects held 66 00:05:03.759 --> 00:05:06.879 up by the ruling. Experts and politicians say this is 67 00:05:07.000 --> 00:05:12.120 only an initial list. The full scope of businesses impacted 68 00:05:13.079 --> 00:05:17.199 is only beginning to be understood. So what happened on 69 00:05:17.279 --> 00:05:22.160 August sixth? This court ruling came down due to a 70 00:05:22.319 --> 00:05:31.240 seque lawsuit filed by left wing nonprofit groups to stop 71 00:05:31.279 --> 00:05:36.000 all kinds of development in Fresno because Fresno's environmental assessment 72 00:05:36.839 --> 00:05:39.480 wasn't sufficient. They think that it's going to harm The 73 00:05:39.560 --> 00:05:44.480 environmental impact of Fresno's development plans is going to harm minorities, 74 00:05:44.600 --> 00:05:49.959 It's going to harm people with environmental harms. Let's keep 75 00:05:50.000 --> 00:05:57.160 reading about it. The list contains three transportation projects that 76 00:05:57.240 --> 00:06:00.439 are the list of construction projects that are being halted. 77 00:06:01.240 --> 00:06:05.360 It contains three transportation projects, two storage facilities, an energy 78 00:06:05.360 --> 00:06:09.480 project and apartment complex, two industrial businesses and Amazon truck 79 00:06:09.519 --> 00:06:14.439 parking lot, nine residential tracts and an entire subdivision. But 80 00:06:14.639 --> 00:06:17.920 the California Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals decision affects a 81 00:06:17.959 --> 00:06:21.000 wide variety of projects looking to be built. That could 82 00:06:21.040 --> 00:06:25.279 mean car washes, to gas stations, and especially affordable housing, 83 00:06:25.319 --> 00:06:30.040 says Dick Poschal, principle at Land Development Services. It's essentially 84 00:06:30.120 --> 00:06:35.000 a moratorium. Poschel says the public has no idea of 85 00:06:35.040 --> 00:06:38.519 the real consequences. Presno City Council member Miguel Arias said 86 00:06:38.519 --> 00:06:42.560 the tracts and subdivisions on the list equal hundreds of houses. 87 00:06:43.279 --> 00:06:45.959 My understanding is that they are still trying to assess 88 00:06:46.000 --> 00:06:49.439 what is the scope of the project's impacted. Arias said 89 00:06:50.120 --> 00:06:52.399 the city may also have to spend an additional three 90 00:06:52.560 --> 00:06:55.720 hundred thirty thousand dollars to do an environmental study for 91 00:06:55.800 --> 00:06:59.959 the Tower District Specific Plan. Presnan City Council Vice President 92 00:07:00.199 --> 00:07:03.399 Karbasi said the impact of the judicial ruling is widespread. 93 00:07:03.759 --> 00:07:07.519 The public has no idea of the real consequences. Carbasi said, 94 00:07:09.040 --> 00:07:12.959 half of the projects initially impacted are residential. In twenty 95 00:07:13.000 --> 00:07:17.120 twenty one, two community groups and so here's here's the 96 00:07:17.160 --> 00:07:22.959 groups who sued. South Fresno Community Alliance and the Leadership 97 00:07:23.000 --> 00:07:27.000 Council for Justice and Accountability sued Fresno, saying its twenty 98 00:07:27.040 --> 00:07:31.240 nineteen Program Environmental Impact Report did not adequately address traffic, 99 00:07:31.240 --> 00:07:35.160 pollution and water problems. The Court of Appeals agreed, saying 100 00:07:35.360 --> 00:07:43.240 the PEIR the Program Environmental Impact Report was deficient. The 101 00:07:43.240 --> 00:07:47.639 city concluded economic and social considerations outweighed the remaining environmental 102 00:07:47.680 --> 00:07:50.360 impacts of approval and implementation of the project. The appellate 103 00:07:50.439 --> 00:07:54.199 opinion stated they gave the city six specific items it 104 00:07:54.240 --> 00:07:57.000 needs to fix. Those fixes could take months or years, 105 00:07:57.040 --> 00:07:59.120 depending on who is being asked. The court iss rulings 106 00:07:59.120 --> 00:08:02.120 said the city should get conditional approval for the pei 107 00:08:02.279 --> 00:08:03.680 R by showing the court it has a plan to 108 00:08:03.800 --> 00:08:09.000 fix the shortcomings. We are evaluating the courts ruling with 109 00:08:09.040 --> 00:08:12.079 our council to determine the next steps, said so Suntai Arose, 110 00:08:12.120 --> 00:08:18.160 the director of communications with the city. All Right, so 111 00:08:20.720 --> 00:08:26.839 basically this is a all right. So basically again, for 112 00:08:26.920 --> 00:08:31.560 any new construction, you've got to show what is the 113 00:08:31.800 --> 00:08:34.399 environmental impact. You have to provide some kind of environmental 114 00:08:34.440 --> 00:08:40.639 impact report. But for small business owners, doing an environmental 115 00:08:40.639 --> 00:08:43.679 study like that take is really expensive and it takes 116 00:08:43.720 --> 00:08:47.879 a really long time. So to save time and money businesses, 117 00:08:47.919 --> 00:08:51.799 and this is from the gv wire article. To save 118 00:08:51.879 --> 00:08:55.840 time and money, businesses use or they tier off of 119 00:08:56.480 --> 00:08:59.480 a per from the city to understand what they have 120 00:08:59.519 --> 00:09:02.679 to do to ply with the state's landmark California Environmental 121 00:09:02.759 --> 00:09:05.879 Quality Act. Of the two dozen projects on the list, 122 00:09:06.200 --> 00:09:09.840 nine had industrial uses. More than half of the projects 123 00:09:09.879 --> 00:09:17.919 impacted were residential. One was an apartment complex. So they're 124 00:09:18.000 --> 00:09:24.159 all and they provide this huge, long list of all 125 00:09:24.200 --> 00:09:27.840 these different tracts that are impacted, all kinds of different 126 00:09:27.879 --> 00:09:36.559 businesses and potential businesses that are being impacted. And this 127 00:09:36.639 --> 00:09:45.360 is what stinks. This is what stinks about California. Here 128 00:09:45.399 --> 00:09:51.519 we have this expensive, onerous, difficult regulation. You have our 129 00:09:51.559 --> 00:09:57.360 city government trying to make it possible to build these things. 130 00:09:57.360 --> 00:10:01.480 And these aren't just like you know, We're not just 131 00:10:01.519 --> 00:10:04.279 building for the sake of building. We need more housing. 132 00:10:04.399 --> 00:10:08.399 Here is Fresno struggling with the homelessness issue. We need 133 00:10:08.799 --> 00:10:12.440 more housing for middle class people. We need more housing 134 00:10:12.519 --> 00:10:17.200 across the board to help us house people in desperate situations. 135 00:10:17.240 --> 00:10:20.159 We need more lower income housing. We need all of 136 00:10:20.240 --> 00:10:24.960 these projects. We need to bring more businesses into Fresno. 137 00:10:25.080 --> 00:10:29.879 We need this construction. We do an environmental impact report. 138 00:10:30.840 --> 00:10:33.600 There are always trade offs when you build anything. Yes, 139 00:10:33.639 --> 00:10:35.919 there will be some environmental impact from them, but this 140 00:10:36.200 --> 00:10:40.200 economic and the court said that, Oh, Fresno concluded that 141 00:10:40.240 --> 00:10:44.759 the economic benefit just outweigh the environmental damage. Yeah, yes, 142 00:10:49.919 --> 00:10:56.559 but that's insufficient, it's unacceptable. Now you've got the city 143 00:10:56.559 --> 00:10:59.399 council members wondering, well, if the city is going to 144 00:10:59.440 --> 00:11:03.840 go through all this effort to put together an environmental 145 00:11:03.879 --> 00:11:07.600 impact plan for the city that other businesses can take all, 146 00:11:07.799 --> 00:11:10.320 then can then use that as their launching pad for 147 00:11:10.360 --> 00:11:13.679 making their own environmental impact reports. Well why should the 148 00:11:13.679 --> 00:11:17.159 city bother? We're spending all this money. We now have 149 00:11:17.240 --> 00:11:19.320 to defend it in court, which is making us spend 150 00:11:19.360 --> 00:11:29.759 more and more money. So you got Arius is questioning 151 00:11:29.799 --> 00:11:32.720 the merits of why do we even have one of 152 00:11:32.720 --> 00:11:38.159 these environmental impact reports? Like if it's just if we're 153 00:11:38.159 --> 00:11:41.720 just gonna have to defend it and defend it and 154 00:11:41.720 --> 00:11:44.159 defend it in court, why not just insist that all 155 00:11:44.159 --> 00:11:47.399 these businesses do it themselves. Well again, yeah, you could 156 00:11:47.440 --> 00:11:49.320 do that, but then all these businesses would have to 157 00:11:49.320 --> 00:11:59.240 shoulder that cost completely on their own. Like even just 158 00:11:59.600 --> 00:12:05.399 for the tower district, the city has a one million 159 00:12:05.440 --> 00:12:10.720 dollar tower district specific plan with its environmental impact report 160 00:12:11.639 --> 00:12:15.039 to update that it would cost an additional three hundred 161 00:12:15.039 --> 00:12:23.480 and thirty thousand dollars for an environmental review, and Analisa Perea, 162 00:12:23.519 --> 00:12:26.159 the city council member who represents tower districts, as saying, 163 00:12:26.200 --> 00:12:28.200 you know, that's a huge setback to have to spend 164 00:12:28.200 --> 00:12:30.960 an extra three hundred and thirty thousand dollars. This is 165 00:12:31.200 --> 00:12:40.879 a total train wreck, it feels like to me. And 166 00:12:40.919 --> 00:12:42.480 here's the kind of the quote at the end of 167 00:12:42.480 --> 00:12:45.559 the piece by Mike Carbasi. I think it's unfortunate for 168 00:12:45.600 --> 00:12:49.360 Fresno's working families that some special interests have effectively created 169 00:12:49.399 --> 00:12:53.080 a moratorium on new housing and parks projects in the 170 00:12:53.240 --> 00:12:56.440 entire city of Fresno, all in the name of social justice. 171 00:12:56.480 --> 00:12:59.639 Carbasi said, there is nothing just about killing jobs and 172 00:12:59.679 --> 00:13:02.559 driving up housing prices and rents. We will be feeling 173 00:13:02.559 --> 00:13:08.360 the repercussions for years to come. So one stupid lawsuit 174 00:13:08.600 --> 00:13:12.159 by some nonprofit organizations, by some bleeding heart left wing 175 00:13:12.159 --> 00:13:16.679 nonprofit organization is going to grind to a halt a 176 00:13:16.759 --> 00:13:23.600 whole city's efforts at new construction, at business construction, real 177 00:13:23.720 --> 00:13:26.600 estate construction, et cetera. It's going to drive up, as 178 00:13:26.679 --> 00:13:29.320 Carbasi says, it's going to drive up home prices. It's 179 00:13:29.320 --> 00:13:31.240 going to drive up the cost of rents. It's going 180 00:13:31.279 --> 00:13:37.120 to drive up the cost of housing. It's going to 181 00:13:37.440 --> 00:13:40.360 limit new businesses coming into president. It's going to limit 182 00:13:40.639 --> 00:13:48.960 businesses being able to develop and to expand. But at 183 00:13:49.039 --> 00:13:55.399 least at least some nebulous environmental harm wasn't avoided or 184 00:13:55.440 --> 00:14:00.799 some environmental good was achieved. Right. This is the fundamental 185 00:14:00.840 --> 00:14:03.440 thing that I sort of hate about environmentalists is the 186 00:14:03.480 --> 00:14:07.279 refusal to acknowledge that human beings are actually a thing 187 00:14:07.559 --> 00:14:10.759 in the environment, a part of the environment, and that 188 00:14:10.879 --> 00:14:16.399 their good is actually an environmental factor. To consider that 189 00:14:16.519 --> 00:14:19.519 human beings have to be kind of part of your ecology. 190 00:14:19.919 --> 00:14:24.200 We are not an unnatural blight upon the pristine landscape 191 00:14:24.200 --> 00:14:28.759 of California. We are actual, you know, living organisms who 192 00:14:28.799 --> 00:14:35.279 need to survive and need homes to survive. In that 193 00:14:35.399 --> 00:14:39.240 human life is actually something valuable. Human livelihoods are something valuable. 194 00:14:42.399 --> 00:14:46.080 But I think they profoundly do not care about that. 195 00:14:46.399 --> 00:14:49.320 They profoundly do not care about human life. They profoundly 196 00:14:49.320 --> 00:14:54.960 do not care about human e college. Here they would 197 00:14:55.080 --> 00:15:02.759 rather see this whole city burn than let businesses thrive, 198 00:15:03.080 --> 00:15:06.159 let housing actually be built like that. And that's the thing. 199 00:15:06.320 --> 00:15:10.639 We have all these problems in the state with you know, 200 00:15:10.960 --> 00:15:14.840 whether it's lack of housing, homelessness, et cetera, and the 201 00:15:14.879 --> 00:15:19.080 Liberals who control our state just refuse to eliminate the 202 00:15:19.159 --> 00:15:24.240 chief obstacles in the way of fixing them. We could, Hey, 203 00:15:24.679 --> 00:15:28.000 there's a super majority in the state legislature. They're all 204 00:15:28.000 --> 00:15:29.840 the same party as the governor. They could pass a 205 00:15:29.879 --> 00:15:34.039 law tomorrow to get rid of SIKUA, to allow new 206 00:15:34.080 --> 00:15:38.279 construction to go on without these ridiculous environmental impact reports 207 00:15:38.279 --> 00:15:42.759 that cost gazillions of dollars for businesses. They could stop 208 00:15:42.799 --> 00:15:45.960 this whole thing, but they don't. They don't want to 209 00:15:47.120 --> 00:15:52.519 because big money Democrat donors won't let them. When we return. 210 00:15:52.639 --> 00:15:54.919 Who are the kind of people who insist on these 211 00:15:55.000 --> 00:15:59.600 environmental regulations, Well, it's all the Democrats' money powerbrokers. Next 212 00:15:59.639 --> 00:16:05.080 on the on Grouardi Show, this massive story in Fresno 213 00:16:05.320 --> 00:16:12.320 about this huge number of real estate development projects, business 214 00:16:12.360 --> 00:16:16.159 construction projects that are all grinding to a halt. Why 215 00:16:16.679 --> 00:16:19.840 the city of Fresno had its own sort of city 216 00:16:19.879 --> 00:16:25.799 wide environmental impact Plan for the impact of development in 217 00:16:25.919 --> 00:16:31.360 various quarters of the City of Fresno. A lot of 218 00:16:31.440 --> 00:16:36.039 businesses were being built based off of that environmental impact 219 00:16:36.120 --> 00:16:39.120 plan that the City of Fresno had in place. These 220 00:16:39.159 --> 00:16:43.639 places that were zoned for housing, new housing was being developed, 221 00:16:43.759 --> 00:16:46.919 these places zoned for industrial industrial construction was taking place. 222 00:16:48.360 --> 00:16:53.120 All this construction was taking place pursuant to this environmental 223 00:16:53.200 --> 00:16:57.039 impact plan. The City of Fresno had an environmental Impact 224 00:16:57.080 --> 00:17:01.759 Plan that is on that they developed pursuant to the 225 00:17:01.840 --> 00:17:08.119 California Environmental Quality Act SEQUA, the bane of the pane 226 00:17:08.119 --> 00:17:14.839 of California's economic existence. So by SEQUA, if you're doing 227 00:17:14.880 --> 00:17:18.839 new construction, you need to provide a very what can 228 00:17:18.920 --> 00:17:23.519 be a very elaborate, expensive, difficult to produce environmental impact report. 229 00:17:24.359 --> 00:17:27.599 If the city has a generalized one for a region 230 00:17:27.799 --> 00:17:29.319 of the city or for the city as a whole, 231 00:17:30.039 --> 00:17:35.240 then individual businesses doing new construction can sort of base 232 00:17:35.519 --> 00:17:39.079 their environmental impact reports off of the cities. They can 233 00:17:39.200 --> 00:17:41.519 sort of tear off of it, t i eer off 234 00:17:41.559 --> 00:17:47.000 of it, and that helps businesses get started, helps businesses 235 00:17:47.039 --> 00:17:50.880 grow and develop and build, helps real estate to build. Well, 236 00:17:51.680 --> 00:17:54.160 it all gets shut down because another provision of SEQUA 237 00:17:54.680 --> 00:17:58.200 is that any random yahoo can sue anybody doing any 238 00:17:58.240 --> 00:18:03.400 construction and shut down the construction on the grounds that 239 00:18:03.440 --> 00:18:07.880 their environmental impact report is insufficient the mental impacts are 240 00:18:07.880 --> 00:18:11.759 too harmful. So some left wing nonprofits sue the city 241 00:18:11.759 --> 00:18:19.799 of Fresno for its environmental assessment, and that grinds tons 242 00:18:19.839 --> 00:18:24.319 of projects, hundreds of new homes being constructed, grinds it 243 00:18:24.359 --> 00:18:27.400 all to a halt. Why is such a law on 244 00:18:27.440 --> 00:18:33.880 the books? California's environmental laws are just business and development 245 00:18:34.359 --> 00:18:39.319 and housing killers. Why do they stay on the books. 246 00:18:41.480 --> 00:18:44.759 We're like the only state that has such an absurd 247 00:18:44.920 --> 00:18:49.559 kind of law like SEQUA, allowing again random nonprofit yahoos 248 00:18:50.440 --> 00:18:55.400 to swoop in and halt an entire city's real estate 249 00:18:55.400 --> 00:18:59.960 development with one lawsuit. How can you be a real 250 00:19:00.160 --> 00:19:03.279 state developer and actually try to develop, take the risk 251 00:19:03.440 --> 00:19:06.680 of building a massive project when you don't know when 252 00:19:06.839 --> 00:19:09.839 some jerk's going to swoop in and sue either the 253 00:19:09.880 --> 00:19:12.799 city to stop the whole city's construction or you to 254 00:19:12.799 --> 00:19:17.519 stop your construction. Maybe a rival real estate developer will 255 00:19:17.559 --> 00:19:26.759 swoop in to sue you. Well, here's why it's not 256 00:19:26.960 --> 00:19:34.759 that Democrats fear environmental Waco activist groups themselves. It's not 257 00:19:34.880 --> 00:19:39.359 that the Democrats in Sacramento, the Democrats that control three 258 00:19:39.480 --> 00:19:42.200 quarters of the state legislates, three quarters of the seats 259 00:19:42.200 --> 00:19:44.720 in both houses of the state legislature, the Assembly with 260 00:19:44.799 --> 00:19:47.480 its eighty members and the state Senate with its forty 261 00:19:47.480 --> 00:19:51.960 members along with the governor. It's not like the Democrats 262 00:19:51.960 --> 00:19:57.759 in Sacramento actually fear the Sierra Club or Just Stop 263 00:19:57.880 --> 00:20:02.119 Oil or climate defiance. The problem is that they fear 264 00:20:02.680 --> 00:20:09.559 the kinds of donors who back those entities. That's the 265 00:20:09.640 --> 00:20:18.680 problem here. So here's an a crazy environmental Waco group, 266 00:20:19.240 --> 00:20:21.720 Just stop Oil. You know those people who keep going 267 00:20:21.759 --> 00:20:25.079 to famous museums and throwing like orange paint or cans 268 00:20:25.079 --> 00:20:27.680 of tomato soup or whatever they're throwing on, you know, 269 00:20:27.720 --> 00:20:30.680 priceless works of art. And then they take off their 270 00:20:30.759 --> 00:20:32.839 jackets and they're wearing a T shirt that says just 271 00:20:32.920 --> 00:20:35.759 stop Oil, or they like, you know, glue their hand 272 00:20:35.839 --> 00:20:41.519 onto a famous painting or something. Just stop Oil and 273 00:20:41.599 --> 00:20:46.519 climate defiance are arms I read this. There are arms 274 00:20:46.559 --> 00:20:55.200 of the Climate Emergency Fund, a nonprofit founded by Rory Kennedy, 275 00:20:55.839 --> 00:21:02.319 one of RFK Junior's sisters and II Le Getty. Yeah, 276 00:21:02.640 --> 00:21:06.200 like the Getty Museum, Getty's. Yeah, like the Getty family 277 00:21:07.039 --> 00:21:10.240 one of the most powerful money brokers in all of 278 00:21:10.279 --> 00:21:14.599 San Francisco area politics, the Getty family that funded Gavin 279 00:21:14.640 --> 00:21:23.559 Newsom's entire career. These are like very like we think 280 00:21:23.599 --> 00:21:27.720 of groups like that as these extreme, crazy fringe Democrats. 281 00:21:27.799 --> 00:21:30.119 Like again, these are the people throwing kansa tomato soup 282 00:21:30.200 --> 00:21:36.440 on works of art. These are super mainstream Democrat donors, 283 00:21:37.160 --> 00:21:41.440 the Kennedy's, the Getty's. These are people who get box 284 00:21:41.519 --> 00:21:45.480 seats at the Democrat convention. You know, if it's in 285 00:21:45.480 --> 00:21:48.039 a basketball arena usually then yeah, they get, they get, 286 00:21:48.079 --> 00:21:53.759 you know, the the luxury suites. These are very mainstream 287 00:21:54.960 --> 00:22:01.960 DNC Kamala Harris, Joe Biden, Gavin Newsom donors. And this 288 00:22:02.119 --> 00:22:06.559 is the problem. If someone proposed a bill to say, hey, 289 00:22:07.160 --> 00:22:12.359 we're gonna massively cut back the California Environmental Quality Act 290 00:22:12.799 --> 00:22:16.319 so that random nonprofits can't sue anymore to stop a 291 00:22:16.359 --> 00:22:21.599 whole you know, project changing the nature of these environmental assessments. 292 00:22:22.119 --> 00:22:26.799 These are the people that Democrats would tick off, These 293 00:22:27.160 --> 00:22:31.680 ultra rich elites who've already got their house They've already 294 00:22:31.720 --> 00:22:36.279 got their yacht that somehow it's environmental impact that you know, 295 00:22:36.359 --> 00:22:39.720 doesn't have to get measured. They've already got their private 296 00:22:39.839 --> 00:22:46.400 jet that somehow doesn't count towards harming the environment. So 297 00:22:46.799 --> 00:22:51.160 SEQUA will never go away, even though everyone in the 298 00:22:51.200 --> 00:22:53.880 state knows what a train wreck it is, how terrible 299 00:22:54.039 --> 00:22:56.599 for all of the liberal lip service. So we need 300 00:22:56.799 --> 00:23:00.559 new housing. Everyone knows that SEQUE was one of the 301 00:23:00.599 --> 00:23:05.559 biggest obstacles to new housing, including liberals, and liberals will 302 00:23:05.599 --> 00:23:09.960 not change SEQUA because they don't want to tick off 303 00:23:10.319 --> 00:23:17.559 liberal donors. That's it. When we return, I want to 304 00:23:17.559 --> 00:23:21.920 talk about California and optimism. That's next on the John 305 00:23:21.960 --> 00:23:29.799 Girardi Show. I want to talk about conservatism and optimism. 306 00:23:29.960 --> 00:23:34.480 It's Friday. I like to do little discursive essay audio 307 00:23:34.720 --> 00:23:37.519 essays on Friday where I'm sort of thinking about big 308 00:23:37.519 --> 00:23:40.759 picture things. So here it goes. So I went to 309 00:23:40.799 --> 00:23:44.839 an event recently, and I don't want to say the speakers, 310 00:23:44.839 --> 00:23:48.839 but he does a lot of speaking on the conservative 311 00:23:48.960 --> 00:23:51.240 kind of talker circuit up and down California. I think 312 00:23:51.240 --> 00:23:53.720 it's someone who might wind up running for governor soon. 313 00:23:55.359 --> 00:23:59.720 And this person was talking about California and talking about 314 00:23:59.720 --> 00:24:03.359 all a lot of the problems in California, of which 315 00:24:03.720 --> 00:24:06.680 there are many. We just detailed a lot of those 316 00:24:06.720 --> 00:24:14.039 problems with SEQUA. He talked about Proposition thirty six and 317 00:24:14.920 --> 00:24:17.160 Proposition thirty six for those who don't know looking at 318 00:24:17.200 --> 00:24:19.279 your ballots, for I think a lot of you started 319 00:24:19.279 --> 00:24:23.519 to get your sample ballots in the mail. Prop thirty 320 00:24:23.559 --> 00:24:30.400 six is the ballot initiative to amend the old Prop 321 00:24:30.480 --> 00:24:34.119 forty seven. Prop forty seven was the proposition that lessened 322 00:24:34.200 --> 00:24:37.759 a lot of criminal penalties for various kinds of offenses 323 00:24:37.839 --> 00:24:41.160 or reclassified a lot of different kinds offenses from felonies 324 00:24:41.200 --> 00:24:45.039 to misdemeanors, et cetera. A lot of people credit Prop 325 00:24:45.079 --> 00:24:51.240 forty seven with increased problems with crime in California. Is 326 00:24:51.359 --> 00:24:54.400 very backed by a lot of liberals. Prop thirty six 327 00:24:54.519 --> 00:25:00.240 is designed to amend Prop forty seven and toughen a 328 00:25:00.279 --> 00:25:06.039 lot of its criminal penalty requirements. And there was polling 329 00:25:06.039 --> 00:25:08.519 that came out showed about seventy percent of California's were 330 00:25:08.519 --> 00:25:11.519 in favor of it, and Gavin Newsom was upset about that. 331 00:25:11.599 --> 00:25:14.640 I saw that number and I couldn't believe it. I 332 00:25:14.680 --> 00:25:17.920 was wondering if I was still in California anymore. And 333 00:25:17.960 --> 00:25:20.680 this person was like, isn't that terrible that Gavin Newsom 334 00:25:20.759 --> 00:25:23.079 is rejecting the will of the people and the people 335 00:25:23.079 --> 00:25:28.240 of California realize the problems that they're facing. And throughout 336 00:25:28.599 --> 00:25:31.240 this gentleman's talk, he kept talking about, well, that's what 337 00:25:31.279 --> 00:25:34.400 the people of California want. The people of California are 338 00:25:34.519 --> 00:25:43.279 tired of this. And I kept sitting there thinking, are 339 00:25:43.319 --> 00:25:49.440 they tired of liberal governance? Are they tired of the 340 00:25:49.480 --> 00:25:53.960 economic stagnation that's caused by all these different left wing policies? 341 00:25:54.079 --> 00:26:01.559 Are they tired of liberalism? I don't think there's any 342 00:26:01.680 --> 00:26:07.759 indication whatsoever that Californians are tired of these things. Okay, yeah, 343 00:26:07.799 --> 00:26:10.880 they seem to be getting a little tired of the 344 00:26:11.599 --> 00:26:20.240 most extreme version of liberal criminal justice. But let's not 345 00:26:20.440 --> 00:26:25.079 forget where did Prop forty seven come from. Prop forty 346 00:26:25.079 --> 00:26:28.839 seven became a law because a majority of Californians voted 347 00:26:28.920 --> 00:26:34.880 for it. That's how any prop passes a majority vote. 348 00:26:38.440 --> 00:26:41.519 And this guy was even talking about, well, if our state, 349 00:26:41.680 --> 00:26:44.839 if our lawmakers won't listen to us and do what 350 00:26:44.960 --> 00:26:47.039 we want, then we got to take matters into our 351 00:26:47.079 --> 00:26:49.079 own hands, and that's why we're trying to pass Prop 352 00:26:49.160 --> 00:26:52.279 thirty six. We did take matters into our own hands. 353 00:26:53.200 --> 00:26:57.440 The legislature didn't pass Prop forty seven. We did, the 354 00:26:57.519 --> 00:27:03.480 voters of California did. Are undoing our own prior mistake. 355 00:27:03.519 --> 00:27:07.960 If you think Prop forty seven is mistaken, there will 356 00:27:08.000 --> 00:27:10.920 clearly be some people who voted both for Prop. Forty 357 00:27:10.920 --> 00:27:16.160 seven and for Prop thirty six. And maybe you can 358 00:27:16.200 --> 00:27:21.079 say people change their minds, Okay, fine, But there is 359 00:27:21.440 --> 00:27:28.400 in the conservative movement, and maybe it's an admirable thing, 360 00:27:28.640 --> 00:27:37.039 and it's a very Reaganite thing, this deep confidence in 361 00:27:37.079 --> 00:27:42.319 the American spirit, this deep confidence in individual Americans, that 362 00:27:43.759 --> 00:27:47.039 deep down to their core, individual Americans, that most of 363 00:27:47.079 --> 00:27:52.759 us are good, honest, hardworking, solid, right thinking people and 364 00:27:53.200 --> 00:27:56.200 if you're just straight with them, that they'll they'll do 365 00:27:56.240 --> 00:28:05.839 the right thing. And I just don't know that that's true. 366 00:28:06.319 --> 00:28:12.119 I think the character of our people, the American people, 367 00:28:13.079 --> 00:28:17.839 the Californian people, is just a lot different than it 368 00:28:17.960 --> 00:28:22.119 was in nineteen eighty or nineteen eighty four. In nineteen 369 00:28:22.160 --> 00:28:33.559 eighty essentially all of the older adults were all of 370 00:28:33.559 --> 00:28:38.559 the older adult males who were able bodied were World 371 00:28:38.599 --> 00:28:46.039 War two or Korea or Vietnam War veterans. Pretty much 372 00:28:46.079 --> 00:28:53.400 most of those people, most adult men, had had some 373 00:28:53.640 --> 00:28:57.359 brush with one of those wars, had had military service, 374 00:28:57.359 --> 00:29:05.559 had and especially within politics, had undergone some kind of 375 00:29:05.559 --> 00:29:09.000 military service, had put on the uniform of their country, 376 00:29:09.359 --> 00:29:17.400 taken an oath to server. Not the case anymore, Okay, 377 00:29:17.720 --> 00:29:22.079 that the kind of bonds of kinship fostered by the military, 378 00:29:22.119 --> 00:29:24.519 the bonds of love of country, the kinds of values 379 00:29:24.559 --> 00:29:31.440 and virtues of a much more prominent public Christianity, weren't 380 00:29:31.440 --> 00:29:38.640 there anymore. Aren't there anymore? Today? We are a very 381 00:29:38.680 --> 00:29:44.079 different kind of people today than we were in nineteen 382 00:29:44.119 --> 00:29:52.000 eighty or nineteen eighty four. And you know, again, I 383 00:29:52.039 --> 00:29:54.279 was listening to the speaker, and he kept talking about, well, 384 00:29:54.319 --> 00:29:57.039 you know, if the people of California will do what's right, 385 00:29:57.079 --> 00:29:59.200 and our state legislature is not going to listen to us, 386 00:29:59.240 --> 00:30:01.960 then well take it to the ballot initiative process. The 387 00:30:02.000 --> 00:30:06.359 ballot initiative process has been every bit as harmful to 388 00:30:06.519 --> 00:30:14.960 conservatism in many ways as the normal lawmaking process has been. 389 00:30:16.839 --> 00:30:19.279 I mean, just off the top of my head, here 390 00:30:19.319 --> 00:30:23.440 are some things that the ballot initiative process, the wonderful 391 00:30:23.480 --> 00:30:26.319 results of going straight to the noble spirit of the 392 00:30:26.359 --> 00:30:30.720 people of California bypassing our horrible state legislature. Here's some 393 00:30:30.759 --> 00:30:36.359 of the idiotic things that the noble voting deep American 394 00:30:36.480 --> 00:30:39.400 fire burning deep in the hearts of every California. Here's 395 00:30:39.400 --> 00:30:42.359 some of the idiotic, dumb things that the people of 396 00:30:42.359 --> 00:30:47.200 California have given us. The jungle primary, where we have 397 00:30:47.279 --> 00:30:48.880 a bunch of races all up and down the state, 398 00:30:48.920 --> 00:30:53.559 including some statewide races where because it's a jungle primary 399 00:30:53.559 --> 00:30:56.200 and open primary where you vote for Republicans or Democrats 400 00:30:56.279 --> 00:30:59.039 or anybody, rather than just a Republican primary just a 401 00:30:59.039 --> 00:31:01.680