It’s rare that I will an article at Joe Romm’s George Soros funded Climate Progress that makes me bob my head in agreement, but, they usually avoid discussing real environmentalism, not too mention silly government laws
In a state where recreational marijuana was legalized two years ago and extreme weather has caused serious concerns, one mundane drought-fighting tool remains illegal: using rain barrels to catch rainwater from roofs for use in gardens.
Despite the fact that the American West is facing serious water shortages — Lake Mead, for example, is at its lowest recorded levels since the 1930s — recent proposals to legalize rain barrels in Colorado have been stalled or defeated.
But this could soon change. A bill to legalize rain barrels is making its way through the Colorado state legislature, which would allow homeowners to possess two 55-gallon rain barrels to be used to collect and store rainwater for use in gardens and yards. The bill overwhelmingly passed the Colorado state House two weeks ago on a 61-3 vote, but faces an uncertain future in the Republican-controlled Senate later this week.
It’s a silly law, and Republicans would be fools to stand against in the Colorado Senate, and some plan to block it, along with some ranchers and others, because, what should be a very simple issue, namely, rain falls on your property and you catch it for later usage, has become all sorts of complicated when Government gets involved. Quite frankly, limiting people to two barrels is silly. Most people do not need that many. My neighbors have one, for their nice little garden.
And this, water advocates believe, is key to making real, lasting change when it comes to water conservation measures: make environmentally-friendly policies available for consumers to choose to use them.
I’ll agree with that, rather than implementing top down, Big Government, domineering rules and laws.
