I just read an article in the Huffington Post wherein the author extolled the virtues of the California Environmental Quality Act, commonly known as CEQA. I double-checked the address bar to make sure I wasn’t reading an article in The Onion, and I looked for a disclaimer somewhere that would make clear that the author was joking. Sadly, I found none of these things and had to accept the fact that this guy was truly a fan of CEQA. CEQA sucks. It’s tacky, outdated, and expensive to navigate. Worst of all, CEQA smothers new businesses, especially small businesses. For a state that wishes to promote small business and make locally-grown produce more widely available, California does its level best to use CEQA to make sure that it is prohibitively expensive for enterprises like a small family owned dairy to start up. I don’t know what Californian Daedalus came up with this Labyrinthine process, but he was several times more evil than the guy who translates the directions on products imported from China. The only companies that have the time, money, and battalions of lawyers needed to satisfy this thing are the huge nationwide agri-business companies that many Californians claim they want to get rid of.
California needs to take a hard look at where its priorities are. If California doesn’t mind making its poorest citizens pay more for food grown by large agricultural conglomerates then that’s the state’s business. But if California wants to both protect its lands and foster the growth of small farms then it needs to dump CEQA and start over with younger, hotter environmental legislation that meets its needs.
P.S. I learned how to make words into links now! So there shouldn't be as many footnotes. I do like footnotes though so don't expect them to disappear entirely you footnote-hating bastards.
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