Pacific Legal Foundation asks Obama, Salazar, and Schwarzenegger for action to convene federal “God Squad” to address California’s water emergency; Destructive environmental regs are starving farms and communities of water, sinking California’s economy deeper into crisis; Federal “God Squad” panel is needed to stop scheme for even more draconian water cutbacks

From the Pacific Legal Foundation:

ON JUNE 28, PLF WILL LAUNCH ONLINE SIGNATURE-GATHERING DRIVE TO PETITION OBAMA, SALAZAR AND SCHWARZENEGGER

Sacramento, CA; June 26, 2009: Pacific Legal Foundation announced today that it has formally requested both President Barack Obama and California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to act to convene a special federal panel – nicknamed the “God Squad” – to address California’s water emergency caused by harsh federal environmental restrictions that dramatically reduce the flow of water to millions of agricultural and urban water users.

On Monday, June 28, PLF’s online petition will go “live” at www.pacificlegal.org, allowing members of the general public to add their signatures to a call for President Obama, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, and Governor Schwarzenegger to act to convene the “God Squad.”

“Water cutbacks caused by draconian federal environmental regulations have already caused devastation for San Joaquin Valley farmers, farmworkers, rural communities, and cities,” said PLF President Rob Rivett. “Now, new federal restrictions have been proposed that will exacerbate the water crisis in California. The Endangered Species Committee – informally know as the ‘God Squad’ – must be convened to save the California economy from an even more destructive government-caused water crisis.”

The Endangered Species Committee, nicknamed the “God Squad,” is a panel of cabinet officials that can be convened by the Secretary of the Interior, with power, in essence, to countermand Endangered Species Act (ESA) restrictions that cause excessive destruction to jobs and the economy.

The governor of an affected state may formally petition for the convening of the Committee. For this reason, PLF has sent a letter to Governor Schwarzenegger, urging him to submit a petition to Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar. PLF’s letter to President Obama urges him to make sure that his administration – including Secretary Salazar – acts favorably on a petition from Governor Schwarzenegger, and, indeed, that all available steps are taken to convene the Committee, to address California’s water emergency.

Over the past year, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has imposed devastating cutbacks on water pumping into California’s main water system – idling farmland, causing urban communities to consider rationing, and driving up unemployment in San Joaquin Valley’s rural areas – as part of a regulatory scheme to protect the delta smelt, a small fish listed as “threatened” under the ESA. Now, federal officials are proposing sweeping new reductions in water supplies to agricultural and urban areas, as part of a “biological opinion” relating to several species, including chinook salmon and steelhead. These further cuts in pumping and water supplies are estimated to remove an additional 500,000 acre-feet of water, the amount that is required to serve two million people annually.

“Without relief from the God Squad, the harsh enforcement of rigid environmental rules will inflict more pain and suffering in a state that is already enduring its worst unemployment in more than 60 years,” said PLF’s Rivett. “PLF calls on Governor Schwarzenegger and on the president to immediately do all in their power to ensure that the God Squad is convened as quickly as possible. California’s water emergency and economic crisis make it imperative that the God Squad be convened and responsible action be taken.”

About Pacific Legal Foundation
Pacific Legal Foundation (www.pacificlegal.org) is the leading legal watchdog for limited government, property rights, and a balanced approach to environmental regulation. On May 21, 2009, PLF attorneys filed a lawsuit on behalf of several Central Valley farmers against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, challenging federal authority to regulate for the Delta smelt, which has led to sharply reduced pumping from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. In 2001, PLF, representing two irrigation districts in the Klamath Basin, petitioned Interior Secretary Gale Norton to convene the God Squad to alleviate severe problems stemming from water cutbacks for endangered fish.

A brief video about PLF’s history and mission, including comments by former U.S. Attorney General Edwin J. Meese III, can be viewed at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HnBSlRQwxKU.

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